A very political and serious topic indeed, and this time the format is very linear – in the sense that it is a real film that can be interrupted to have enhanced information about key points, and that has a space for indepth information about the EU and the way the crisis is dealt with. The movie follows European deputy Pervenche Berès, who is encharged of the special “crisis” commission report. You can follow her in her meetings, in her thoughts, in her deep left wing beliefs and in her struggles to convince other parties… But more than everything you can follow her in her dilemmas: can we solve an economic crisis just with financial tools? Does is not actually need a profound moral evaluation of where our society is at? How can we start this discussion?

Contraty to Journey to the End of Coal,  that was fundamentally photo based, with very little video, and a lot of branching narrative points – as you were made to play the role of a journalist/detective, this film is totally  video based and much less stylised that the other one… But this is a “serious” topic, and the climate is more educational than adventourous/gamish. Have a look to it, as it is a rare case of intelligent reporting over a complicate political dilemma. I actually quite liked it, even if it is not very interactive, because its interactivity follows the folds of the problematics that it enfolds. What I mean by this is that while I was watching I was thinking at why the crisis is so difficult to tackle from a political point of view and, as I was thinking about such issues, the interactive options that appeared were allowing me to go deeper into my questions…

In the same way that a good teacher brings you to the point were you are curious about the next thing that s/he is about to explain, Rapporteur de Crise leads you through the labyrinth of the European Parliament with a calm, but secure, friendly hand. Quite difficult to achieve actually!

Have a look to Rapporteur de Crise.

More about Honkytonk

More about Klynt - the interactive software used to author it

I personally think that this project is done with style and attention to the detail. The characters are interesting and emotionally grabbing (a 26 years old girl that invents the job of “explorer of flavours” , a homeless speculator, a papy dancer, a transvestite hairdresser…). The visual style is sleek (the use of photos to bridge between a video and another as a way to “stop time” is particularly effective). The graphic style is elaborate (an interface of Parisian street walls and posters allows the user to navigate within the project)… and the whole thing really works! (Yes, i did watch at least four stories and kept browsing for a good 30 minutes!)

And yet… is it really interactive? As authors Lambert and Salva said themselves in an interview for Nieman Storyboard “Brèves de Trottoirs is linear. You can’t create your own storytelling. That’s what we like to do. For that reason, our storytelling is not different from a traditional documentary”.

Although I like this project, because it really works, I am wondering what is new about it. In 1996 (15 years ago!) Janet H.Murray had already realised a very similar project at MIT:  Dans un Quartier de Paris. Murray’s project was done with a linguistic aim, but the idea was very similar: use digital technology (CD-ROM!) to simulate a walk in the street of Paris and discover its diversity through the glances of its inhabitants. Brèves de Trottoirs is obviously a thousand times more immersive and sleek than Dans un quartier de Paris: finally video can be full screen and good quality, and we can see that in 15 years graphic design has made miracles in inventing its own language – made of consistency and fluidity. So… has the evolution of interactive media language made all the difference between those two projects?  And is the so called multi-platform aspect of Brèves de Trottoirs adding anything to it?

Basically, what I am asking is: have fifteen years of experiments in interactive documentary brought us to a new language, or just to a better user interface and user experience? 

Interestingly enough, like me,  they just seem to realise that archiving all i-docs is mission impossible!!!! Not only there is too much happening, but it takes too much time for any person to follow it all… So they have introduced a “do it youself option” – a bit like me who offer a “contribute to the archive” option, inviting people to archive their own projects by themselves. If you go to the option “referencer son webdocumentaire” you can input your documentary. I am not sure about the language… does it need to be in French only?

I am coming to the conclusion that we should all join forces in a way or another to create a centralised  online archive/forum/resource/network about interactive documentaries. It does not make sense to have Webdocu.fr in one language, me & other blogs covering other things… we should unite efforts! Whenever I will have more time (will this ever happen?) it will be my next project.  Any person intersted in such project, just get in touch with me…

Have a look to  http://linterview.fr/new-reporter/le-moteur-de-recherche-du-web-documentaire/ and type any topic or location… and a list of web project will come up (photo-journalism, interactive news, web-docs etc…). It does work for English projects too but it is less effective (if you search for a topic you need to do it in French!).

LINTERVIEW web site is really worth checking. They do interviews, they follow what is happening as we speak. I am not too sure who is behind it (I shall enquire) but it is a useful resource…

If you subscribe to their newsletter they also inform you about interesting stuff. Today I received a link to a 40 minute piece on the web documentary format (http://linterview.fr/new-reporter/les-webdocumentaires-revolution-ou-effet-de-mode/) and to an interview to David Dufresne about Prison Valley : http://linterview.fr/new-reporter/les-coulisses-de-prison-valley-par-david-dufresne/.

Have a look… !

Have a look to arte.tv/afrique. I think this is a nice attempt to speak about the 50 years of African independence by doing a series of web-documentaries. Each African country is represented by an interesting guide (normally someone hip and young) that shows you around during a day. Really well done for a young public!

France 5’s project is safer, but still quite brave: it picks on issues of the  “New World”  (ecology, immigration, capitalism etc…) and covers the topic trhough 3/4 webdosumentaries. You can have a look to their portraits on China france5.fr/PNM.