Interactive documentary: What does it mean and why does it matter?

Having just convened our fourth i-Docs symposium, it feels like an opportune moment to reflect on what is meant by ‘interactive documentary’ and why we at i-Docs have always seen it as a way of framing a set of possibilities, as opposed to being a specific medium, genre or platform. This seems prescient in light of the ‘immersive turn’ with interactive work starting to become more closely defined in response to it. At the heart of this is the current interest in emergent VR technology, a more specific medium or platform, within which more easily definable genres are likely to emerge. This is contributing to a rising interest in ‘experiential storytelling’ and ‘alternate realities’ and a potential re-framing of what is meant by interactivity