Includes bibliographical references and index.

Archive and the power of actuality -- '9/11' as 'Not 9/11': United 93 and Man on Wire -- Mad Men and the incidental events of the 1960s -- Documentary and the law: true crime and observation -- Political mimicry: from mimesis to alternate history -- Documentary re-enactment: the 'model' approximation.

"In our era of 'fake news', Stella Bruzzi examines the dynamism that results from reusing and reconfiguring raw documentary data (documents, archive, news etc.) in creative ways. Through a series of individual case studies, this book offers an innovative framework for understanding how, in our century, film and media texts frequently represent reality and negotiate the instabilities of 'truth' by 'approximating' factual events rather than merely representing them through juxtaposing disparate, often colliding, perspectives of history and factual events. Covering areas such as true crime, politics and media, the book analyses the fluidity and instability of truth, arguing that approximation is more prevalent now in our digital age, and that its conception is a result of viewers' accidental or unconscious connections and interventions. Original and thought-provoking, Approximation provides students and researchers of media, film and cultural studies a deeper insight into our understanding and acceptance of what truth really means today"--