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This article examines the symbolic, cultural and industrial objectives that underlie the entry of documentary into the scope of the European audiovisual policy since the end of the 1980s. The interventions of the MEDIA and Eurimages programmes have aimed to professionalize a sector which is largely situated on the margins of the audiovisual system, at the intersection of the cultural and creative industries. The support granted to documentary has thus gradually refocused on its industrial dimension, with special attention given to enabling the emergence of television documentaries with transnational aspirations, funded by broadcasters from different countries. This orientation represents a shift from an initial policy objective of encouraging the production of documentaries having perceptible links with the assertion of an essentialist European identity.

This article focuses on the relationship between different contemporary approaches to teaching documentary and the conditions of production and distribution of non-fiction in specific national contexts. The analysis of three programs in Spain, the United States and Cuba will allow us to assess the tension resulting from the double affiliation of documentary with both film and media and show singular forms of interdependence between the academic world and the industry. We will examine pedagogical approaches that, merging theory with practice, interrogate and cross the boundaries between academic fields, media and cultural categories as well as production and distribution techniques.