Bjorn is on the mark in his discussion of soapumentaries. AMERICAN FAMILY was closer to MONDO CANE than, for instance, PRIMARY or any of the Maysles films. The producer and crew of FAMILY seemed to have had a good idea of how they wanted it to turn out. By contrast, more honest films using direct cinema techniques simply want to know how it comes out. Al Maysles once described what he and his brother did as "explorations." They were not interested in doing films where they knew how it would come out. In answer to a direct question, Al denied any interest in fiction film. For his pains, he was described by some people as an "innocent." How dare he think, they hurumphed, that it was possible to know about people by observing them with a camera. All is manipulation goes the argument. In my view, this particular argument is usually a self-serving defense of manipulating actuality for dramatic purposes. Cal Pryluck, Radio-Television-Film, Temple University, Philadelphia <[log in to unmask]> <PRYLUCK@TEMPLEVM>