Examples of Interactive Documentaries

At our docSHIFT Networking Night last March, nextMEDIA's Mark Greenspan put together a presentation highlighting examples of successful, inspiring interactive documentaries. The complete list is accessible below, divided into four categories. Please read through and explore, and feel free to suggest other examples to: allie@doctoronto.ca.

Check out all the photos from the docSHIFT Networking Night on our Flickr page.

1. Choose your own adventure (Branching narrative)

USMOB
Conceived at Crossover Australia and commissioned by ABC Australia, 2005.
Explore an Aboriginal community.
http://www.usmob.com.au/index.html

THE BIG ISSUE
Honky Tonk Films, 2009 (France).
A web documentary about obesity.
http://www.honkytonk.fr/index.php/thebigissue/

JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE COAL
Honky Tonk Films, 2009 (France).
A journalistic investigation of the Chinese Coal Industry.
http://www.honkytonk.fr/index.php/webdoc

BECOMING HUMAN
Institute for Human Origins
Arizona State University, 2009 (USA).
Exploration of evolution:
http://www.becominghuman.org

EMPIRE OF THE WORD
Xenophile, Nomad, 2009 (Canada).
An 8-part interactive mystery.
http://www.eotwonline.ca

CRUSHING IT: A SOCIAL MEDIA LOVE STORY
Story2.OH, 2010 (Canada).
A romantic comedy for the Twitter age.
http://crushingitstory.com/drupal6?q=node/1

2. Sort and search (Database narrative*)

BRITAIN FROM ABOVE
Forged at a Crossover Lab, interactive Emmy-winning project.
Numiko and Lion TV, 2008 (England).
The secrets, patterns, and hidden rhythms of England from an aerial perspective.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove

GAZA/SDEROT, LIFE IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING
By Khalil al Muzayyen and Robby Elmaliah, produced by Arte television, 2008.
Interviews from the Gaza / Israeli border.
http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv

REMIX MANIFESTO
By Brett Gaylor, 2008 (Canada)
An “open source documentary”
http://www.ripremix.com

GDP
NFB, 2010 (Canada)
Measuring the human side of Canada’s economic crisis.
http://gdp.nfb.ca/index

DIAMOND ROAD ONLINE
Kensington Communications, 2008 (Canada).
Four continents, fifteen characters, hundreds of video clips.
http://www.diamondroad.tv

CONDITION CRITICAL
Mediastorm, 2008 (USA).
Voices from the war in Eastern Congo launched Condition: Critical, MSF’s year-long campaign designed to give a voice and a face to people living in areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
http://www.condition-critical.org/feature

WATERLIFE, BY PRIMITIVE ENTERTAINMENT
NFB, 2009 (Canada).
An exploration of the Great Lakes.
http://waterlife.nfb.ca

GENERATION TIAN’ANMEN: BEING TWENTY IN CHINA
Patrick Zachman, 2009 (France).
A three-part multimedia documentary.
http://www.narrative.info/projet/tiananmen/en

102 MINUTES THAT CHANGED AMERICA
History Channel (USA).
An interactive site about the 9/11 attacks.
http://www.history.com/interactives/witness-to-911

WE FEEL FINE
Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar, 2006 (USA).
An exploration of human emotion, in six movements.
http://www.wefeelfine.org

IRON CURTAIN DIARIES 1989-2009
Peace Reporter, 2009 (EU).
A look at people who crossed the Iron Curtain twenty years ago.
http://www.theironcurtaindiaries.org/map.html

BIG STORIES, SMALL TOWN
Jeni Lee and Sieh Mchawla, 2009 (Australia).
Stories from a small town in Australia.
http://www.bigstories.com.au/#PA

CITY SONIC
White Pine Pictures & Kensington Communications, 2009 (Canada).
A obisode tour of Toronto’s music scene.
http://www.citysonic.tv

* Users select the stories they’d like to see from a database. The database may use tags, geographical locations, images, and icons to help a user navigate the interactive experience.

3. GAMES

GONE GITMO
Nonny de la Peña and Peggy Weil, 2007 (USA).
A Second Life experience of Guantanamo Bay Prison.
http://gonegitmo.blogspot.com

GREAT TANK BATTLE MOBILE
Breakthrough Films, 2010 (Canada).
Ten campaigns with numerous missions reliving some of the greatest tank battles in history: available at the app store (find link)

JFK: RELOADED
Traffic Games, 2004 (UK).
The player in the game takes on the role of Kennedy’s alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. (No longer available).

BREAKOUT!
In Sync Video, 2009 (Canada).
Tween activists making a difference.
http://www.breakoutonline.ca

4. SHOW ME THE MONEY (Financial successes)

GENOMIC DIGITAL LAB
Sponge Lab, 2009 (Canada).
The world of biology through discovery-based learning.
http://www.genomicsdigitallab.com/gdl/default.cfm

THE GRID
Funded by Vodacom, 2008 (South Africa).
A social media networking platform for mobile and a 25-part documentary series.
http://www.thegrid.co.za

WORKOUT WITH SIDNEY CROSBY
Stitch Media, 2008 (Canada).
An interactive workout with Sidney Crosby sponsored by Reebok.
http://sidneycrosby.sympatico.msn.ca

PAX WARRIOR
23YYZee, 2004 (Canada).
Head a peace keeping effort in Rwanda.
http://www.paxwarrior.com/home/index.php

VBSTV
Vice Media, 2007 (USA)
An online TV network.
http://www.vbs.tv