The first found-footage movie in cinema history
Few have been as polarising and intriguing as ‘found footage’ in the expansive history of cinema. This distinctive sub-genre, which crafts narratives around the conceit of discovered raw footage – often mimicking genuine real-life recordings – brings a unique intimacy to storytelling. By blurring the lines between reality and fiction, it created an immersive experience that keeps audiences glued to their seats, asking themselves: Is this real?
While many cinephiles may instinctively link ‘found footage’ to the late 1990s and 2000s horror genre, its roots stretch back much further. The answer lies in the hands of American experimental filmmaker Shirley Clarke and her 1961 feature, The Connection. Before this, Clarke was celebrated for her array of short films that defied conventional storytelling norms – but this reached its zenith with her one and only feature.
With The Connection, Clarke ventured into unknown territory, transforming Jack Gelber’s play of the same name into a cinematic experience that would serve as a foundation for the ‘found footage’ genre. Beyond its innovative format, the film stirred significant controversy, leading to numerous court cases centred around censorship – a testament to its boundary-pushing content.
Following a group of heroin-addicted Jazz musicians in 1960s New York, the film began with a sub-heading that announced that the following movie the audiences were about to see was a ‘real’ documentary film, assembled by a cameraman long after being shot. It’s explained that the film’s director, Jim Dunn, has gone missing – his appearance in the movie marks the last time he was seen.
The idea of prefixing a movie with a brief context would be used by many more significant found footage features, mainly horror, and not even for that much of a different effect. It hooked the audiences in, put a conspiratorial arm around them and made them feel like they were privy to an exclusive, illicit and borderline voyeuristic glimpse into what was potentially someone’s last living moments.
The movie then details the exploits of Jim and his cameraman as they try and ingratiate themselves into a community of jazz musician ‘junkies’. Jim explains how he hopes to film the ‘connection’ behind the connection – to capture the intersection between musical inspiration and drug-fuelled ecstasy on film. As the film unfolds, we realise that not only has the director been funding their drug habit, but that he’s trying to manipulate their behaviour to elicit something more “cinematic” – and although the ending is left ambiguous, it’s not hard to imagine the addicts eventually taking the situation into their own hands.
From this pioneering effort, the found footage genre simmered in the background of cinema for decades. It wasn’t until the release of The Blair Witch Project in 1999 that the genre experienced a renaissance, mainly adopted by horror filmmakers. However, what now stands as a hugely popular and profitable filming technique has one audacious, imaginative and experimental female filmmaker to thank for its conception – Shirley Clarke with The Connection.
