Cinema Verite

Cinema Verite is a drama about the making of "An American Family," the 1973 PBS documentary series that followed a Santa Barbara household and became the first reality television show. The film centres on Pat and Bill Loud, whose marriage is strained when a producer persuades them to let cameras into their home. Filming stretches over months and the crew's presence sharpens the tensions already present, while the family's eldest son, Lance, is openly gay at a time when that was rare on television. Once the series airs, the Louds face public attention and the fallout from how they were portrayed.

Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman directed, working from a screenplay by David Seltzer, with Karyn McCarthy producing. It was the fourth feature the directing pair made together, arriving after The Extra Man and before Girl Most Likely. Diane Lane and Tim Robbins play Pat and Bill Loud, with James Gandolfini as producer Craig Gilbert and Thomas Dekker as Lance.

The film runs 86 minutes and was released in 2011. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.5 from around 4,200 votes, while on TMDB it has a score of 5.7 from a much smaller base of 85 votes, indicating modest and limited audience approval.