Interactive documentary films allow the recipient to interfere with what they see and hear, including the selection of materials, following specific paths, exploring databases and even contributing one's own material. The media studies discourse typically attributes more autonomy and a higher level of activity to recipients of interactive documentaries than to their counterparts watching linear films. At the same time, there is a discussion about the extent to which control over documentary knowledge production truly shifts from the film’s producer to its recipient and the relevant software. It is this form of documentary knowledge production that Vanessa Zallot studies in her dissertation, approaching the topic with a critical eye on the current discourse around interactivity and documentary film theory. She examines interactive documentaries, focusing on their interactive elements, their montage and imagery. In the framework of her research, she has developed three methodological approaches. Using archive, localization and montage, Vanessa Zallot explores documentary knowledge production through interactive documentary films.
The image shows a collage of seven different interactive documentary films that Vanessa Zallot has studied as part of her research.
