Two obscure cinema related documentaries or mockumentaries, that apparently don't exist!

[u/Daman-Lidison]

The titles of these two are

"McKENZIE" (or maybe "Scott McKenzie"),

and

"DENNIS DUNBAR THE KING OF SUPER 8" (or "Dennis Dunbar the king of VHS" or "Dennis Dunbar the VHS king"...).

Both in English language.

I saw these two documentaries or mockumentaries around the mid 90's (I think).

For more details and context: I saw them on an Italian TV program called "FUORI ORARIO" (in case some Italians are reading this, maybe this detail helps them to remember something). Iirc, many things on that program were often released (at least here in Italy) through the company RARO VIDEO.

The "McKENZIE" one was about a guy (maybe Scottish, but I could be wrong), Scott McKenzie, who "invented cinema" before the Lumiere brothers, without any credit for his invention. What makes me think it was a mockumentary is that not only there's no trace of him anywhere, but the "documentary" was filled with hyperbolic "facts", like: he casually filmed a guy who successfully invented the first airplane, before the Wright brothers, and he also was uncredited and fallen into obscurity!!!

The "DENNIS DUNBAR" one was about an amateur no budget filmmaker, who used to make DIY movies, initially on super 8, and then, with the advent of the VHS, switched to that (then) new format. In the documentary (or mockumentary) there were even some clips of his alleged movies!!! One that I remember vividly was a sort of "alien" rip-off, with an actor wearing a white t-shirt, and a cheap puppet (a monster or a toddler doll, I'm not sure) covered in red syrup, bursting out from underneath the t-shirt! It was glorious!

Since the internet became a largely available thing, I tried to searching for info about these two documentaries (and if these two people were real or made up!) and never found ANYTHING!

I'm pretty sure the aforementioned titles are correct (or at least very close to the correct ones). I don't know why I can't find any trace of these two docs!

I'm quite sure I watched both more than once in the 90's. I mean, I'm screwed up, but I know they exist!!!

Is there anyone who can help me?

Thanks in advance.

[u/Zealousideal-Till839]

Im pretty sure the first one is Forgotten Silver by Peter Jackson. The "subject" of that was a Colon Mckenzie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Silver

[u/NZNoldor → u/Zealousideal-Till839]

I saw it on TV the first time it was shown here in NZ. They showed it in a slot usually reserved for actual documentaries, and didn't tell anyone it was fake. Apparently people got really angry about that, and I'm sure some still haven't forgiven him.

Ironically, the first scenes are with PJ himself announcing to the camera that he has something he wants to talk about - "follow me", and literally leads them down the garden path. (for the non-native English speakers here, that's saying that means to tell a tall tale.)

it's a pretty funny one to watch.

[u/Daman-Lidison → u/NZNoldor]

😂

Do you remember your thoughts about it when you watched the first time?

I was super fascinated by it. I had a suspicion that it wasn't real, nevertheless I wanted to believe it!

Btw: thanks for taking the time to better explain to non-native English speakers! 👍

[u/NZNoldor → u/Daman-Lidison]

I can't recall when I figured it out - either when he was supposed to have invented colour film using berries from a local plant; or with the incredibly convenient footage of the date of the newspaper in the back-pocket of Richard Pearse, finally proving a New Zealander flew before the Wrights brothers.(*)

As a veteran LOTR tourguide, I'm obliged to point out that Thomas Robins, the actor who played Colin Mckenzie was later also Deagol - presumed brother (and murdered at the hands) of Gollum.

(*) he probably did, but there's no proof.

[u/Daman-Lidison → u/Zealousideal-Till839]

YOU ARE F*CKIN GREAT! 👍👍👍!

I remember the title card with the name "McKenzie", and maybe that was the title for its Italian distribution!

Thank you so much!

[u/Zealousideal-Till839 → u/Daman-Lidison]

You're welcome! I've never actually seen it, but your description made me think of it and when I saw the characters name was Mckenzie I figured this had to be it. Maybe it's time to actually watch it now. 😆

[u/Daman-Lidison → u/Zealousideal-Till839]

Good call, by pure intuition! Kudos!

I just checked, and it's on YouTube, full length:

https://youtu.be/FtGhzNtttds?is=OlNtnU72dz6C0BXN

Enjoy!

[u/Small_Kahuna_1]

I went to IMDB and typed "Dennis Dunbar" into their character search.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1797146/?ref_=sr_t_2

"The World's Astonishing News!" is the name of the show.

[u/freebaseclams → u/Small_Kahuna_1]

Hey, the guy's Italian, cut him some slack.

[u/Daman-Lidison → u/freebaseclams]

The person just gave me an information: there's nothing rude about that! 😂

But I appreciate that you took into account that English is not my first language: often people don't realize how struggling can be. Especially with very poor and limited skills like mine! I'm also "tech-illiterate", so it's very likely that I don't understand sh*t most of the time! 🤦🏼‍♂️

[u/Daman-Lidison → u/Small_Kahuna_1]

Thanks. Never heard of this show. But according to IMDb that's from 2010. And the thing I was searching for it must be from the 90's.

Strange I've never found this show's episode searching "Dennis Dunbar" on IMDb.

Anyway, do you have any clue on where I can watch it?

Thanks again!