IDFA DocLab, your place for discovering new forms of documentary storytelling. Nov 17 – 23, 2011. Amsterdam.

By: Ekaterina Yudin

On: November 16, 2011

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About Ekaterina Yudin
A New Yorker. An entrepreneur. A New Media Master’s student at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. A media and film junkie, intrigued but apprehensive of our digital future. A curious explorer, visualizer, and wanderer of the ever-evolving and innovating world and web. A skier, scuba diver and lover of all outdoor adventures. A happy cyclist and supporter of good public transportation. A live music enthusiast. A sticky rice and mango addict.

Website
http://newmedia-tingpetabytes.tumblr.com/

The world-renown International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam officially kicks off its 10 day program today, permeating itself across theaters around the city . Perhaps less known but more exciting for the ‘new media crowd’ is IDFA DocLab, a unique division and platform dedicated to showcasing innovation in digital documentary storytelling.

Whether termed ‘new media film projects’, ‘interactive documentaries’, ‘web documentaries’, or ‘digital storytelling’, DocLab covers them all. With over 100 digital and interactive documentary projects curated by IDFA DocLab since 2008, the website has evolved into a comprehensive digital archive of projects, people, companies and, events. DocLab can be seen as the ultimate go-to place on the web for exploring the best examples of documentary storytelling and for discovering today’s innovators who are pushing the boundaries of documentaries.

IDFA DocLab’s special program also goes beyond the traditional framework of film screenings. Instead, this week there are live screenings with directors, interactive cinema events, installations, performances, and industry panels. The featured projects being presented are inspiring, diverse, and traverse the whole globe. They are relevant and they all challenge the traditional format and user experience of documentary storytelling. And interactivity, in the form of increased user control such as navigation of a story through an interface, commands many of the emerging works.

Whether today’s innovators tell their stories through video, immersive technology, photography, games, performances or collaborations, the projects are worth indulging in.

Opening night with a reception and introduction to the program is tomorrow, November 17, 2011. Don’t miss it. Admission Free!

See all events this week.

Check out the selection of projects competing for this year’s Digital Documentary Storytelling prize.

Follow IDFA DocLab on Twitter & Facebook.