Digitalization and documentary film aesthetics in new media era

21st century is considered as an era of digitalization and new media. As we have been surrounded by interfaces and screens in connection with the developments in information and communication technologies. Those screens and interfaces deeply influencing arts while they are transforming into a medium of display and production as well as they effect daily life practices, by creating new approaches and removing traditional boundaries. In other words, the relationship between the artist, the audience and the device has begun to change which has deeply affected documentary cinema, which is known for its commitment to reality. Numerous things have bagun to change in production and display stages of documentary films, the sharp boundaries set by the traditional film production hierarchy are erroding, and the viewing practices have started to transform. This encourages everyone to start to make their own documentary films and give them the opportunity to show them without intermediaries. This circumstances have opened up new possibilities for both professional filmmakers and amateur producers. Thus, documentaries with different aesthetic understanding began to be produced in various genres. Thanks to the digitalization production and display channels have started to diversify and affect the creativity, perspective, aesthetic concerns and approaches of the directors. In this context, the effect of digitalization with new and emerging film production styles and changing aesthetic perceptions were investigated within the scope of documentary film making process. In this context, the products of digital age cause traditional norms to be evaluated under the imperfect aesthetic concepts; interactive documentaries to be criticised under the concept of interface aesthetics, and YouTube documentaries to be valued under the concept of YouTube aesthetics. These evaluations are not limited to the formal dimension of documentary films, but within the context of the relationship between form and content; reality, the position of the director and the recipient, the situation of the characters and the changing perspectives are evaluated and questioned with a holistic approach. Keywords: Documentary Cinema, Digitalization, New Media, Imperfect Aesthetics, Interface Aesthetics, YouTube Aesthetics