In this webinar i-Docs Co-director, Judith Aston, and Stefano Odorico, Director of the International Research Centre for Interactive Storytelling (IRIS), will present their ongoing work on i-docs and multi-perspectival thinking. Central to this work is their research into polyphony, as a means through which to promote intercultural dialogue and exchange in a context of increasing polarization.

The aims of the webinar are: to introduce the main issues and debates that this research is bringing up, to provide some examples which point towards ‘polyphonic documentary’, and to open up a channel within the i-docs community for ongoing discussion on the application and relevance of polyphony to documentary practice.

This event will address a series of questions as follows:

• What is polyphony and how has it been playing out to date within documentary practice?
• How does this relate to ongoing debates about documentary authorship and co-creation?
• What do Bakhtin’s ideas on polyphony bring to the party and what is their relevance?
• How is the relationship between thinking and feeling being negotiated in this research?
• What is the role of i-docs in a polyphonic context and how can this inform our practice?

The premise of this research is that multi-perspectival thinking is a necessary and urgent skill to be promoting, in order to create a solid base from which to address the many challenges that we are facing in these complex and uncertain times.

Observers and active participants are equally welcome!

More on the convenors:

Dr Judith Aston is Co-founder of i-Docs and an Associate Professor in Immersive Media at the University of the West of England in Bristol. She has an interdisciplinary background in anthropology, geography, interaction design and media practice. As an active member of the University’s Digital Cultures Research Centre, she is also an experienced tutor and PhD supervisor. At the heart of her work is the desire to put evolving media technologies into the service of promoting multi-perspectival thinking and understanding. She has published widely on this and her current collaboration with Dr Stefano Odorico on ‘The Poetics and Politics of Polyphony’ is the latest manifestation of this ongoing endeavour.

Dr Stefano Odorico is a Reader in Contemporary Screen Media at Leeds Trinity University where he is the director of IRIS (International Research Centre for Interactive Storytelling). He has published numerous works on film and media theory and practice, documentary studies, and interactive documentaries. He is the vice-chair of the MeCCSA (Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association) practice network and he is a co-founder and member of the editorial team of Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media. He is currently collaborating with Dr Judith Aston on a project focusing on polyphonic documentary theory and practice.