Following on from the successful Disobedient Objects exhibition, the V&A has worked with the Disobedient Film Company to release an experiential documentary film called London Recruits: the Secret War Against Apartheid. 1960s and 1970s apartheid South Africa saw anti-apartheid leaders like Nelson Mandela jailed or killed for their resistance to a racist regime. African National Congress activists such as Ronnie …
Expanding documentary: the impact of Living Los Sures
In the early 1980s, director Diego Echeverria captured five stories from the Brooklyn neighbourhood Los Sures, looking to represent the challenges it was facing; drugs, gang violence, crime, abandoned real estate, racial tension, single-parent homes and inadequate local resources. Alongside this portrait of struggle, the film also celebrated the vitality of this largely Puerto Rican and Dominican community. 30 years on from …
Interactive documentary: Deadline dates for papers, funds, festivals & development labs
Whilst today is the last day to submit interactive projects to Sheffield Doc Fest (Deadline 11pm GMT!) there are plenty of other funds, festivals and development labs that are still open. The following are a few upcoming deadlines: Visible Evidence XXII Extended deadline: Monday 23 February This first call is positioned more for the academics amongst us: Visible Evidence, the international conference on …
In Limbo Interactive: How is the digital world changing us?
Directed by Antoine Viviani, In Limbo Interactive is the latest project released by the NFB; a personalised interactive film that reveals the traces we leave on the Internet. The work forms part of a broader reflection exploring our relationship with digital culture. The experience begins by asking for access to all of your social media accounts, geolocation and webcam. As I allowed this access (a procedure often …
Creating an open source tool for non-linear storytelling
by David Dufresne. Original post here, republished with permission. On January 14th, in a room of the Open Documentary Lab at MIT, we are a dozen people gathered around a crazy project, a simple project: Let’s build a tool for writing non-linear stories. An open source tool, open to all. In the room: some designers like Jeff Soyk (UX architect for Hollow), students like Deniz …
The Story of Now: BBC experiment with new platform ‘Taster’
Last week the BBC launched two new interactive documentaries – alongside a load of other interactive content – on their new platform BBC Taster. Ostensibly aimed at a younger generation, the documentaries feature a backstage insight into the inescapable hip hop stars Run The Jewels, as well as a 20-part interactive series hosted by Idris Elba called The Story of Now. …
Is this the future of life with VR? Dispatches from the Sundance New Frontier lab
Is this the future of life with VR?” asks the NFB’s head of digital, Loc Dao on Twitter. It’s certainly the dominant view from the Sundance New Frontier lab, as pictures of be-goggled guests flying like birds and walking through woods appear online – “All approaches are different, you can almost see how their craft is informing their approach to this technology.” …
Who tells what to whom and how: The Prison Memory Archive
Cahal McLaughlin, director of the the participatory storytelling project Prison Memory Archive, has recently published a paper addressing the issues of co-creation and co-ownership of documentary material within participatory projects. He also goes into some detail around the use of interactivity in the project: Our intention is to encourage users not to rush to judgment with their inevitable, and understandable, prior …
Leading lights gather to shine spotlight on how virtual reality is shaking up entertainment industry
Oculus, the company behind the most talked-about virtual reality hardware, the Oculus Rift, is part of a stellar line-up due to gather for a new conference, set to become a major annual event in the industry calendar. SouthWest VR Conference, organised by award-winning studio Opposable Games, will shine a spotlight on how virtual reality is shaking up the entertainment industry …
Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 – Call for Papers
MIX DIGITAL has established itself as an innovative forum for the discussion and exploration of writing and technology, attracting an international cohort of contributors from the UK, Australia, and Europe as well as North and South America. After the success of the last two MIX DIGITAL conferences, Bath Spa University is hosting Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 in the newly completed Commons building …
Making digital history: The Dragon and the Eagle
By Colin Thomas Putting history on television can be a hugely frustrating business. One history professor I worked with found it so frustrating that on one occasion he flung his notes down in front of the cameraman and stamped on them. I could sympathise. In one television series we were cramming three hundred years into twenty-five minutes, no time for …
The Making of Priya’s Shakti: Innovative transmedia project that attempts to change attitude towards rape victims in India
By Jaya Mahajan. Originally published on Factual for Asia – republished with permission. Title: Priya’s Shakti Genre: Multi Media-Comic book with augmented reality, street art, social media Producer: Rattapallax Inc-Ram Devineni Budget: USD 250,000 Developed at: Crossover Labs and Dok Leipzig Net lab Funded by: Tribeca New Media fund, Ford foundation Rape and gender based violence is one of the most distressing issues facing modern India. …
The tricky topic of impact & interactive documentary
There has been much attention given to impact within documentary over the last couple of years. While BritDoc have stated in their recently published impact guide; ‘the power of film to change the world has become impossible to ignore’ and the Puma prize has been established to reward impact, what is meant by impact is not self-evident and for some, …
Stories Of Change: can digital and interactive media (help to) save the world?
When: Thu 8 Jan 17:30 Where: Watershed, Bristol Ticket price: Free Falling in the first days of Bristol’s year as the inaugural Green Capital, two experts in the field of digital media will ask: can digital and interactive media (help to) save the world? First up is Mandy Rose – Thinking through Climate Change In a world where media is everywhere, and …
PttP Cross Media Forum: top 3 interactive presentations
If, like me, you didn’t get the chance to attend the 2014 Power to the Pixel Cross Media Forum, you can now catch up with the presentations online! Here are the top 3 to watch if your focus is on interactive work and once again it’s great to see makers lay projects bare; sharing inspiration, discussing their failures and providing details …