Constructing Social meanings in the historical documentary film;Case study: "Mr. Prime Minister" and "Mosaddegh, Oil and Coup" documentaries

History and documentary cinema are both artifacts faithful to reality but dependent on narrative. The historical documentary film is not a reflection of history, but a representation of perceptions of it. These constructions for documentary makers are more important than the historical information they display; Because they are effective in forming the historical perception and, as a result, the cultural and political judgments of their audience. The research was conducted to identify the documentary maker›s strategies in constructing meanings from historical issues using semiotics of the two documentaries «Mr. Prime Minister» and «Mossadegh, Oil and the Coup». Finally, the research considered the use of «historical analogy» and «attracting the maximum trust of the audience» as the two main mechanisms in the studied documentaries to create social meanings. The results showed that the two main mechanisms of «historical analogy» and «attracting the maximum trust of the audience» were used in the studied documentaries to construct social meanings. Also, the results showed that the historical analogy through the inclusion of cultural and political expressions and concepts in the speech of the text and historical reference to them in the documentary «Mr. Prime Minister» has led to the creation of messages about trusting America and confronting sanctions. In the documentary «Mossadegh, Oil, Coup», the strategy of creating social meanings is to gain the maximum trust of the audience by presenting different readings of historical events.