PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Documentary

How to Cite a Documentary in MLA 9

MLA 9 cites a documentary the same way as any film. Start with the title in italics, then the words Directed by and the director's name, the production company, and the year it came out: Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. Directed by James Redford, KPJR Films, 2016. If you watched it on a streaming service, add the service's name in italics after the year. The in-text citation is the title in italics, shortened if it's long, with a time stamp when you point to a scene: (Resilience 00:12:15).

The format

Title of the Documentary: Subtitle. Directed by First Name Last Name, Production Company, Year. Streaming Service, URL.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 29, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

A documentary is a film in PERRLA too. Choose Film & Movies, then Domestic film, or Film in another language when the original title isn't in English. Add the director in the Director role (add a second Director for a co-directed film), type the title in Film Title and the year in Release Year, and type each production company under Production Company, using Add company for each one after the first. Watched it on a streaming service? Type the service's name in Platform, and paste the film's link in URL if you watched it in a browser. PERRLA puts the title in italics and title case, writes Directed by, separates the companies with a slash, and sets the service in italics after the year.

Writing about the director's choices? Add the director with the Custom (No Director) role instead and type director in the Role box. PERRLA starts the entry with the director's name, and the in-text citation uses the last name.

PERRLA can also look a documentary up: type its title followed by the word documentary (for example, Crip Camp 2020 documentary) or paste its IMDb link into the reference search. It fills in the director and the year, and the production companies when it can find them. Before you save it, check the entry against the film's credits: the full title with its subtitle, the spelling and order of the directors' names, the year, and the production companies.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Title

A documentary entry usually starts with the title, because a film is the work of many people. Put the full title, subtitle included, in italics and title case, followed by a period.

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.

MLA turns an ampersand in a title into and: the poster says Stress & the Science of Hope, and the entry says Stress and the Science of Hope. If the title ends with a question mark, keep it and skip the period: Won't You Be My Neighbor? Directed by.

2. Directed by

After the title, write Directed by and the director's name in normal order, first name first, then a comma.

Directed by James Redford,

Two directors are joined with and, in the order the credits give. Three or more: give the first director and et al.

Directed by Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht,

The narrator, the people interviewed, and the film's subject don't go here. Name them in your sentence when they matter.

3. Director first (optional)

If your paper focuses on the director's work, start with the director instead of the title: the name inverted, a comma, and the word director. The title follows, and Directed by drops out.

Redford, James, director. Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. KPJR Films, 2016.

The in-text citation then uses the director's last name instead of the title.

4. Production company

Next comes the company that produced the documentary, then a comma. MLA treats it as the publisher. Separate two or more companies with a forward slash, with a space on each side.

Higher Ground Productions / Rusted Spoke Productions,

The production company isn't the distributor or the streaming service. Netflix released Crip Camp, but Higher Ground Productions and Rusted Spoke Productions produced it. Focus Features released Won't You Be My Neighbor? in theaters, but it's a Tremolo Productions film. Check the opening and closing credits.

5. Year

Give the year the documentary was released, then a period. Use the original release year, not the year a service added it.

2016.

6. Streaming service (second container)

If you watched the documentary on a streaming service, add the service's name in italics after the year, as a second container. If you watched it in a browser, you can add the film's link after a comma, without the https://.

Netflix, www.netflix.com/title/81001496.

Watched it in class, on a DVD, or through a school's educational license? End the entry with the year.

Examples

A documentary with one director

James Redford's hour-long documentary on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress, used in nursing, social work, and teacher education courses. KPJR Films produced it and licenses it to schools. The subtitle stays in the title, and its ampersand becomes and. The time stamp points to a moment 12 minutes and 15 seconds in.

  • In-text citation(Resilience 00:12:15)
  • Narrative citationResilience shows … (00:12:15).

A documentary with two directors, watched on Netflix

Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht's documentary about Camp Jened and the disability rights movement, released by Netflix in 2020. Netflix lists the title with its subtitle and the directors in this order. Its production companies are Higher Ground Productions and Rusted Spoke Productions, so they go after the directors, and Netflix, where the student watched it, becomes the second container with the film's link.

  • In-text citation(Crip Camp)
  • Narrative citationCrip Camp follows …

A documentary whose title ends in a question mark

Morgan Neville's documentary about Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a favorite in early childhood education courses. Focus Features released it, but the production company is Tremolo Productions. The question mark stays, and no period follows it. Fred Rogers is the subject, not the author, so he isn't in the entry.

  • In-text citation(Won't You Be My Neighbor?)
  • Narrative citationWon't You Be My Neighbor? shows …

A documentary cited by its director

The same Redford documentary, for a paper about how Redford tells the story. The entry starts with his name and the word director, Directed by drops out, and the in-text citation uses his last name with the time stamp.

  • In-text citation(Redford 00:12:15)
  • Narrative citationAs Redford presents it, … (00:12:15).

In-text citations

An MLA in-text citation starts with whatever starts the Works Cited entry. Most documentary entries start with the title, so the citation is the title in italics, shortened when it's long to its first noun and any adjectives before it, leaving off a starting A, An, or The.

  • Cited by title: (Resilience) or (Crip Camp)
  • A scene or a quote: documentaries have no page numbers, so add the time the moment starts, in hours, minutes, and seconds separated by colons, with no comma before it: (Resilience 00:12:15)
  • Cited by the director: if the entry starts with the director, use the last name: (Redford 00:12:15)
  • Title in your sentence: give only the time in parentheses, or leave the parentheses off when there's no time: Won't You Be My Neighbor? shows Rogers …

The people a documentary interviews aren't its authors. Name them in your sentence when they matter, and cite the film: Resilience follows pediatricians, therapists, and educators who use brain science to break cycles of childhood adversity. If you also read an expert's own book or article, cite that separately.

Common mistakes

  • Redford, James. Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. KPJR Films, 2016.Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. Directed by James Redford, KPJR Films, 2016.A director isn't an author. Start with the title and write Directed by, or start with the name and add director after it: Redford, James, director.
  • Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. Directed by Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht, Netflix, 2020.Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. Directed by Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht, Higher Ground Productions / Rusted Spoke Productions, 2020. Netflix.Netflix released the film but didn't produce it. The production companies go after the directors, and the service goes at the end, in italics, as a second container.
  • Won't You Be My Neighbor?. Directed by Morgan Neville, …Won't You Be My Neighbor? Directed by Morgan Neville, …When a title ends with a question mark, that mark ends the element. Don't add a period after it.
  • Rogers, Fred. Won't You Be My Neighbor? Tremolo Productions, 2018.Won't You Be My Neighbor? Directed by Morgan Neville, Tremolo Productions, 2018.The subject of a documentary isn't its author. Mention Rogers in your sentence and cite the film.
  • Redford, J. (Director). (2016). Resilience: The biology of stress & the science of hope [Film]. KPJR Films.Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope. Directed by James Redford, KPJR Films, 2016.That's APA. MLA starts with the title in title case, spells out the director's name after Directed by, uses no [Film] label, and puts the year last.

Quick checklist

  • Title and subtitle in italics and title case, or the director first with director
  • Directed by and each director's full name
  • Every production company, separated by a slash, not the distributor
  • The original release year
  • The streaming service in italics, if you watched it on one
  • In-text: the shortened title in italics, plus a time stamp for a scene

Questions students ask

How do I cite a Netflix documentary in MLA?

Write the documentary's entry as usual: title, Directed by, production company, and year. Then add Netflix in italics as a second container, and the film's link if you watched it in a browser.

Do I need to say it's a documentary?

No. MLA cites a documentary like any other film, with no label for the genre. If the kind of film matters to your point, say so in your sentence: The 2016 documentary Resilience follows …

How do I cite a documentary series, like a Netflix docuseries?

A documentary series is a TV series, not a film. To cite one episode, put the episode's title in quotation marks, then the series' title in italics, the season and episode numbers, and the rest of the details. See our guide to TV episodes.

How do I cite a documentary I watched on YouTube?

If the documentary was posted as a video on a YouTube channel, cite the YouTube video: its title in quotation marks, YouTube, the uploader, the date, and the link. See our YouTube guide. Use the film format when you watched the documentary as a released film.

Who is the author of a documentary in MLA?

MLA usually starts with the title instead of a person, because many people make a film. The director goes after the title, with Directed by. Start with the director only when your paper focuses on the director's work. The narrator, the subject, and the experts interviewed aren't authors.

How is MLA different from APA for a documentary?

MLA starts with the title in italics and title case, puts the director after Directed by, and ends with the year and any streaming service. APA starts with the director and (Director), puts the year second, uses sentence case and [Film], and leaves the service out.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, containers, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answers on in-text citations for films (title first with Directed by, or the director first), shortened titles (the first noun and the words before it), ampersands in titles, and a work watched through an app, with the time stamp and slash rules the MLA 9 movie guide checked on the Style Center. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: KPJR Films' page for Resilience (re-opened October 29, 2026: Directed by James Redford, USA, 2016, and the title with its ampersand), Netflix's title page and Variety's review credits for Crip Camp, and Variety's review credits for Won't You Be My Neighbor?

PERRLA builds the documentary entry with the title in italics, Directed by, and every production company in place.

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