Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction

International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 78 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin DOI : …………, Plagiarism/Similarity: 02% Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj 1 & Prashant Amin 2 1. HOD-Department of English, GSFC University, Vadodara Mob.: 9379717612, ORCID ID – 0009-0004-56783507, Email: [email protected] & dr.sneha.baja[email protected]m 2. Assistant Professor Department of Commerce & Business Management, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Mob.: 9978805847 Email: [email protected] Received : 16/08/2025 1st BPR : 24/08/2025 2nd BPR : 05/09/2025 Accepted : 11/09/2025 Abstract Documentaries occupy a unique position as both informational media and emotional narratives, creating a fundamental tension between factual accuracy and compelling storytelling. This qualitative study explores how emotional storytelling techniques in documentaries influence viewers' factual recall and meaning-making processes. While neuroscientific research has demonstrated that emotional content activates different memory pathways than neutral information (Phelps, 2004), little is understood about how viewers themselves experience and articulate these effects. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, the study conducted in-depth interviews with 25 participants after they viewed carefully selected documentary clips containing both emotionally charged and neutral segments. Findings revealed three key patterns: First, participants consistently demonstrated stronger but less accurate recall of facts presented in emotional segments, often conflating details or attributing heightened significance to emotionally framed information. Second, viewers showed limited awareness of how narrative techniques shaped their understanding, with many interpreting emotional resonance as evidence of truthfulness (Nichols, 2017). Third, the meaning-making process privileged emotional engagement over factual precision, with participants constructing personal interpretations that frequently extended beyond the documentary's explicit claims. These findings have significant implications for documentary ethics and media literacy. They suggest that emotional storytelling, while effective for engagement, may inadvertently compromise factual understanding. The study contributes to documentary theory by bridging neuroscientific evidence with audience reception research, offering practical insights for filmmakers balancing emotional impact with informational integrity (Winston, 2018). It also highlights the need for media literacy programs that address the subtle ways narrative construction influences factual perception and memory. Key words: Documentary Storytelling, Emotional Salience, Memory Distortion, Meaning-Making, Media Literacy, Truth Perception, Viewer Engagement, etc. I. Introduction 1.1 The Paradox of Documentary Truth-Telling Documentaries occupy a unique position in media ecology, straddling the dual imperatives of factual reporting and compelling storytelling. Since John Grierson first defined documentary as "the creative treatment of actuality" (1933), filmmakers have grappled with the inherent tension between emotional engagement and factual fidelity. Winston (2018) traces this dilemma through documentary history, noting how even observational cinema's "fly-on-the-wall" approach involves deliberate framing choices that shape reality. In contemporary media landscapes characterized by "post-truth" politics (McIntyre, 2018), this tension becomes particularly acute. Documentaries like Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" or Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" demonstrate International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 79 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin how emotional storytelling can drive social impact while raising questions about selective representation. The central paradox emerges: the very techniques that make documentaries powerful communicators - personal narratives, evocative music, dramatic reenactments - may undermine their truth claims by privileging emotional impact over factual precision. 1.2 The Neuroscience of Emotion and Memory Cognitive neuroscience provides crucial insights into why emotional storytelling affects viewers' factual recall. Phelps' (2004) fMRI research reveals how emotional arousal activates the amygdala, enhancing memory consolidation for affectively charged content while simultaneously suppressing hippocampal processing of neutral details. This neural mechanism explains Kensinger's (2007) finding that viewers remember emotionally intense scenes more vividly but less accurately, often recalling central emotional themes while misremembering peripheral facts. Plantinga (2018) frames this as the "emotional truth" dilemma, where viewers' sense of a documentary's veracity becomes tied to affective resonance rather than factual correspondence. These neurological processes create predictable patterns: emotionally charged sequences produce stronger but less precise memories, while factual exposition yields more accurate but less retained information. Crucially, as Tal-Or and Cohen (2010) demonstrate, these effects occur largely outside viewers' conscious awareness, making them particularly potent in documentary reception. 1.3 Research Gap and Significance While quantitative studies have mapped these cognitive phenomena, significant gaps remain in understanding viewers' lived experiences. Neuroimaging shows what happens in the brain but cannot reveal how viewers perceive, interpret, and rationalize these memory distortions. A phenomenological approach is needed to explore what Corner (2002) calls the "viewer contract" - the complex negotiation between documentary text and audience interpretation. This study addresses three critical gaps: First, it examines how viewers navigate the tension between emotional impact and factual recall in real-time processing. Second, it investigates audiences' metacognitive awareness of documentary persuasion techniques. Third, it explores how these processes affect meaning-making in an era of increasing media skepticism. The research carries significant implications for documentary ethics, media literacy education, and democratic discourse, particularly as documentaries increasingly serve as primary information sources on complex social issues (Aufderheide, 2007). Understanding how emotional storytelling shapes factual understanding is essential for both media producers seeking ethical engagement strategies and educators developing critical viewing curricula. II. Literature Review 2.1 Documentary Theory and Ethics The evolving landscape of documentary filmmaking has produced multiple frameworks for understanding its truth claims. Nichols' (2017) seminal typology identifies six modes of documentary representation - from the expository (voice-of-God narration) to the participatory (filmmaker-subject interaction) - each carrying distinct ethical implications. These modes establish different "truth contracts" with audiences, a concept expanded by Aufderheide (2007), who demonstrates how stylistic choices inherently shape perceived credibility. The ethical dilemma emerges most acutely in what Corner (2002) terms the "documentary pact," where viewers willingly suspend disbelief while maintaining expectations of factual integrity. Contemporary scholars like Winston (2018) argue this pact grows increasingly fragile as hybrid forms blur traditional boundaries, with docudramas and "based on true events" narratives exploiting documentary's truth premium while employing fictional techniques. This tension manifests practically when emotional storytelling, as Plantinga (2018) notes, leads audiences to accept affective resonance as evidence of veracity, regardless of factual rigor. 2.2 Cognitive Psychology of Media Reception Understanding documentary impact requires examining how brains process mediated reality. Bordwell's (1985) schema theory explains how viewers interpret documentaries through existing International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 80 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin cognitive frameworks, often reconstructing memories to fit pre-existing narratives. This aligns with Green and Brock's (2000) transportation theory, which shows how narrative immersion reduces critical analysis, making viewers more susceptible to persuasive content. The emotional component proves particularly potent - Tal-Or and Cohen's (2010) research reveals that affectively charged sequences create "mnemonic dominance," where emotionally significant elements overshadow neutral facts in memory formation. These cognitive processes operate largely outside conscious awareness, as Kensinger's (2007) neuropsychological work demonstrates, with amygdala activation during emotional scenes simultaneously enhancing recall intensity while impairing factual accuracy. This creates what Phelps (2004) calls the "emotional memory paradox" - vivid but distorted recollections that feel subjectively truthful despite factual inaccuracies. 2.3 Audience Studies in Documentary Reception Qualitative audience research provides crucial insights into how real viewers negotiate these cognitive processes. Liebes and Katz's (1990) foundational work on media decoding reveals how cultural positioning influences documentary interpretation, with viewers actively constructing meanings rather than passively receiving messages. Hill's (2007) longitudinal study of documentary audiences demonstrates these interpretative strategies in action, showing how viewers employ "reality testing" - comparing screen content with personal experience - while remaining vulnerable to emotional persuasion. However, significant gaps persist in understanding several areas: how viewers reconcile emotional engagement with post-viewing fact-checking behaviors; the role of metacognition in documentary reception; and the specific narrative techniques that trigger critical awareness versus uncritical acceptance. These gaps become increasingly consequential as documentaries assume greater roles in shaping public understanding of complex issues from climate change to social justice movements. III. Methodology 3.1 Research Paradigm This study adopts an interpretive phenomenological approach (Smith et al., 2009) to investigate viewers' lived experiences of documentary reception. Grounded in constructivist epistemology (Crotty, 1998), the research recognizes that meaning emerges through interaction between documentary texts and audience interpretation. Unlike quantitative methods that seek to measure effects, this approach prioritizes understanding how viewers make sense of emotional storytelling and its impact on their factual recall. The paradigm choice reflects Patton's (2015) assertion that qualitative inquiry is particularly suited for exploring "the processes through which people construct meaning" (p. 107) in complex media environments. By focusing on subjective experience rather than neurological correlates, the study complements existing fMRI research while addressing questions about conscious perception and meaning-making that neuroimaging cannot capture. 3.2 Research Design The study employs a multi-phase design to capture both immediate and reflective responses. Participant selection follows purposive sampling (Palinkas et al., 2015) to recruit 25 regular documentary viewers across demographic variables (age 18-65, balanced gender representation, varied educational backgrounds). Stimulus materials comprise three 10-minute clips from awardwinning documentaries (e.g., "The Act of Killing," "13th," "Won't You Be My Neighbor?") selected through a two-stage validation process: First, expert evaluation by three documentary scholars assessed emotional salience and factual density. Second, pilot testing with 10 participants confirmed the clips elicited the intended range of emotional responses (M=6.2 on 9-point SelfAssessment Manikin scale). The interview protocol development followed Brinkmann and Kvale's (2015) guidelines for phenomenological interviewing, with questions progressing from descriptive ("What do you remember about...?") to interpretive ("How did you decide what to believe...?"). International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 81 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin 3.3 Data Collection The data collection protocol combines two complementary methods: 1) Immediate Written Recall: Participants completed a structured questionnaire within 10 minutes of viewing, documenting:  Key facts recalled from emotional vs. neutral segments  Confidence ratings for each recalled fact (1-5 scale)  Spontaneous emotional associations 2) Semi-Structured Interviews: Conducted 48 hours later (allowing for memory consolidation), these 60-90 minute sessions explored:  Memory vividness and change over time  Awareness of emotional manipulation techniques  Strategies for verifying documentary claims  Personal meaning derived from viewed content Sample questions included: "Can you walk me through your memory of the climate change statistics segment?" (factual recall) "What feelings stayed with you after watching, and how do they relate to what you remember?" (emotion-memory linkage) "Were there moments when you questioned the film's truthfulness?" (critical engagement) 3.4 Data Analysis Thematic analysis followed Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase approach: 1. Familiarization: Repeated listening/reading of all transcripts with initial memoing 2. Initial Coding: Line-by-line open coding using descriptive labels 3. Theme Development: Pattern identification across participants 4. Theme Review: Validation through peer debriefing with two qualitative researchers 5. Theme Definition: Clear articulation of each theme's essence 6. Report Production: Selecting vivid exemplars while maintaining contextual integrity NVivo 12 software assisted in managing 387 coded excerpts. Inter-rater reliability was established through:  Dual coding of 20% randomly selected transcripts  Cohen's κ coefficient of .81 indicating strong agreement  Resolution of discrepancies through consensus discussions 3.5 Ethical Considerations The study implemented rigorous ethical protections: 1) Informed Consent:  Two-stage process explaining both written and interview components  Clear right to withdraw without penalty  Option to skip distressing questions 2) Emotional Safety:  Pre-screening for trauma triggers related to documentary content  Post-interview debriefing with resource referrals  On-call counseling services for two participants reporting distress 3) Data Protection:  Pseudonymization of all records  Secure encrypted storage  7-year deletion timeline per university IRB protocol The methodology balances phenomenological depth with methodological rigor, addressing Lincoln and Guba's (1985) criteria for trustworthiness through prolonged engagement, member checking, and audit trails. This approach yields rich experiential data while maintaining ethical and scientific standards appropriate for sensitive media effects research. International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 82 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin IV. Findings 4.1 Patterns of Factual Recall The study revealed striking differences in how participants recalled emotionally charged versus neutral documentary content. Emotional segments (e.g., personal testimonies in 13th) were remembered by 92% of participants, compared to 64% recall for neutral expository segments (χ²=8.37, p<.01). However, this enhanced recall came with significant accuracy tradeoffs. Participants made 2.3 times more errors when recounting facts from emotional sequences (M=1.8 errors/segment) versus neutral ones (M=0.8 errors/segment), supporting Kensinger's (2007) emotion-memory accuracy tradeoff hypothesis. Three distinct recall patterns emerged: 1. Central Detail Retention: Viewers consistently remembered emotionally impactful visuals (e.g., a tearful interview in The Act of Killing) while forgetting accompanying statistics 2. Temporal Compression: 68% of participants collapsed multi-year timelines presented in historical documentaries into singular "emotional moments" 3. Confidence-Inaccuracy Paradox: Participants expressed 22% higher confidence (5-point scale) in incorrectly recalled emotional content than accurate neutral recalls, exemplifying Metcalfe's (2017) finding that emotional arousal inflates confidence judgments 4.2 Types of Memory Distortion Analysis identified four primary distortion mechanisms operating in documentary reception: 1. Conflation of Events Participants frequently merged distinct documentary elements into composite memories. One viewer combined three separate police brutality cases from 13th into a single "especially memorable" incident, demonstrating Schacter's (2001) "conjunction error" phenomenon. This occurred 3.5 times more frequently with emotional content. 2. Emotional Coloring Neutral facts became affectively charged in recall. A climate change statistic from An Inconvenient Truth was consistently described as "alarming" or "terrifying" despite being presented dispassionately, illustrating Lerner and Keltner's (2000) appraisal tendency framework. 3. Selective Omission Viewers omitted contradictory information from emotional narratives. In recalling Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 76% neglected mentions of Mr. Rogers' professional struggles while vividly remembering his compassionate moments, confirming von Restorff's (1933) isolation effect. 4. False Memory Insertion 24% of participants spontaneously added unshown details to emotional scenes - particularly inserting "logical" backstories for documentary subjects, consistent with Marsh's (2007) research on narrative gap-filling. 4.3 Meaning-Making Processes Viewers employed three primary strategies to derive meaning from documentary content: 1. Narrative Coherence Construction Participants reshaped recalled facts to fit archetypal story structures (Campbell, 1949). Violent events in The Act of Killing were frequently framed as "redemption arcs" despite lacking textual support, demonstrating Bruner's (1991) narrative construction of reality. 2. Affective Truth Validation Emotional resonance served as a credibility heuristic. As Participant 09 stated: "The rawness of their pain convinced me it was true - why would someone fake that?" This aligns with Plantinga's (2018) concept of "affective rhetoric" in documentary. 3. Post-Viewing Reality Testing Only 28% engaged in fact-checking, primarily for statistics from neutral segments. Emotional content triggered what Participant 17 called "emotional truth...that doesn't need checking," International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 83 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin supporting Tal-Or and Cohen's (2010) findings about narrative transportation reducing critical analysis. 4.4 Credibility Assessment Viewers demonstrated limited awareness of documentary persuasion techniques: 1. Technique Recognition While 88% identified "obvious" techniques like dramatic music, only 12% noticed subtler manipulations like selective interviewee framing, confirming Hall's (1980) encoding/decoding disparity. 2. Critical Engagement Spectrum Three response patterns emerged:  Accepters (32%): Uncritically embraced emotional content  Skeptics (18%): Discounted all emotional appeals  Negotiators (50%): Selectively reconciled emotion and facts 3. Trust Dynamics Repeated exposure to emotional manipulation eroded trust differentially. As Participant 23 noted: "Now I question the tears, but the graphs still seem reliable," illustrating Meyrowitz's (1985) medium theory in practice. Implications These findings extend existing research in three key ways: 1. They operationalize the "viewer contract" (Corner, 2002) by showing how emotional engagement renegotiates documentary truth claims 2. They demonstrate that memory distortions follow predictable narrative patterns rather than random error 3. They reveal viewers' metacognitive blind spots regarding emotional persuasion The study confirms neuroscience findings at the experiential level while adding crucial dimensions about conscious meaning-making processes. As Participant 12 summarized: "The facts fade but the feeling stays - and that's what guides my understanding." V. Discussion 5.1 Theoretical Implications This study bridges a critical gap between neuroscientific evidence of emotional memory processing (Phelps, 2004) and viewers' conscious experiences of documentary reception. Our findings validate Kensinger's (2007) emotion-memory tradeoff at the phenomenological level, demonstrating how amygdala activation patterns manifest as vivid but distorted recollections that participants described as feeling "more real than the facts" (P19). The research extends schema theory (Bordwell, 1985) by revealing how documentary narratives trigger not just cognitive schemas but what we term "affective schemas" - emotional frameworks that guide memory reconstruction. For instance, participants consistently reshaped complex historical events in 13th into simplified moral narratives, supporting Bruner's (1991) concept of narrative cognition while adding an emotional valence dimension. The study proposes refinements to Corner's (2002) viewer contract theory by identifying three renegotiation mechanisms: 1) Emotional overwriting - affective content superseding factual details in memory 2) Narrative compliance - viewers altering recollections to fit documentary story arcs 3) Affective verification - using emotional resonance as a truth validation heuristic These processes collectively form what we conceptualize as the "affective viewer contract," where emotional engagement becomes the primary currency of documentary truth claims rather than factual correspondence. This framework helps explain why participants rated emotionally powerful but factually ambiguous segments as more credible than dry statistical presentations, aligning with Plantinga's (2018) work on affective rhetoric in nonfiction film. International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 84 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin 5.2 Practical Implications For Documentary Filmmakers The findings present both opportunities and ethical challenges for practitioners. While emotional storytelling proves highly effective for engagement and message retention, it risks creating what Participant 07 called "emotional truths that outcompete actual truths." We recommend filmmakers adopt what Winston (2018) terms "responsible emotional framing" - techniques that:  Visually distinguish factual data from emotional interpretation  Provide "cognitive speed bumps" (title cards, pauses) before/after emotional segments  Use metadata overlays to identify reenactments versus evidentiary footage For Media Literacy Education Current media literacy curricula overemphasize logical fallacies while neglecting emotional persuasion. Our findings suggest effective programs should: 1) Teach "affective awareness" - recognizing bodily responses to emotional content 2) Develop "emotion-fact reconciliation" strategies 3) Include documentary-specific analysis modules focusing on:  Music cue identification  Interview framing analysis  Emotional chronology effects For Fact-Checking Organizations Traditional fact-checking models prove inadequate for addressing emotional misinformation. We propose "affective fact-checking" that:  Maps emotional peaks in documentaries against factual claims  Develops visualizations showing emotion-fact relationships  Creates post-viewing reflection guides to separate affective impact from factual content 5.3 Limitations and Future Research Three key limitations constrain this study's generalizability: 1) Sample Characteristics Our purposive sample (n=25) overrepresented college-educated viewers (68%) and documentary enthusiasts (72%). Future research should examine how these phenomena operate in:  Less media-literate populations  Cross-cultural contexts  Age-differentiated cohorts 2) Stimulus Material Constraints Using pre-existing documentary clips introduced uncontrolled variables. A follow-up study could:  Commission custom documentaries with controlled emotional variables  Systematically vary emotional salience while holding facts constant  Include biometric measures (GSR, eye-tracking) during viewing 3) Temporal Limitations The 48-hour recall window captured short-term effects but not lasting impacts. Longitudinal designs could:  Track memory accuracy over weeks/months  Measure behavioral changes from documentary viewing  Assess sleeper effects of emotional content We identify three promising research directions: 1) Neurophenomenological Studies combining fMRI with post-scan interviews 2) Intervention Research testing emotional media literacy strategies 3) Cross-Genre Comparisons examining documentary versus docudrama effects These limitations notwithstanding, the study makes significant contributions by:  Operationalizing the cognitive-affective interface in documentary reception International Refereed, Blind Peer-Reviewed Multidisciplinary & Open Access Research Journal Issue: 03 | Vol.: 12 | Jul.-Aug.-Sep. - 2025 | Pages: 78–86 | RRSSH | ISSN: 2348 – 3318 | Periodicity : Quarterly, Language : English & Hindi https://ijorr.in [ 85 ] Beyond Facts and Feelings: A Qualitative Exploration of How Emotional Storytelling in Documentaries Influences Memory, Interpretation, and Meaning Construction Sneha Bajaj & Prashant Amin  Developing the "affective viewer contract" framework  Providing evidence-based guidelines for ethical documentary practice As Participant 22 astutely observed: "The best documentaries don't just tell us what to think - they help us understand how we came to think it." This insight captures the dual imperative facing both documentary makers and viewers in an era where emotional storytelling increasingly shapes public understanding of complex realities. VI. Conclusion This study illuminates the complex interplay between emotional storytelling and factual recall in documentary viewing, revealing that while emotional content enhances memory salience, it frequently distorts factual accuracy. Three key findings emerge: First, viewers demonstrated 2.3 times greater recall errors for emotionally charged segments compared to neutral content, yet reported 22% higher confidence in these inaccurate memories—a paradox aligning with Kensinger's (2007) emotionmemory tradeoff hypothesis. Second, participants unconsciously employed "affective verification," using emotional resonance as a truth heuristic, consistent with Plantinga's (2018) concept of emotional rhetoric in nonfiction. Third, the research identified specific distortion patterns—conflation, emotional coloring, and narrative gap-filling—that systematically reshape documentary content in viewers' memories. These findings challenge traditional notions of documentary truth, suggesting that what Nichols (2017) calls the "contract of credibility" between filmmaker and viewer operates as much on affective as factual levels. As Participant 11 observed, "The numbers fade but the feelings guide," encapsulating how emotional storytelling becomes its own form of evidentiary persuasion. This has profound implications for documentary's role in public discourse, particularly when addressing complex social issues requiring nuanced understanding. The study calls for what might be termed "emotionally responsible documentary"—a balanced approach that harnesses narrative power while maintaining factual integrity. Filmmakers might achieve this through Winston's (2018) proposed "emotional footnoting"—making affective manipulation techniques visible without diminishing their impact. For viewers, developing what we term "affective media literacy"—the ability to recognize and reflect on emotional persuasion—could foster more critical yet still engaged documentary reception. Ultimately, as the medium evolves in our post-truth era, maintaining documentary's unique power may depend on finding ethical ways to honor both the heart and the mind. References  Aufderheide, P. (2007). Documentary film: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.  Bordwell, D. (1985). Narration in the fiction film. Routledge.  Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.  Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3rd ed.). Sage.  Bruner, J. (1991). 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