KRK INTERACTIVE at 55.KFF

Screens of computers, tablets and mobile phones frequently replace cinema screen and determine a new way of responding to storytelling. This also applies to the behaviour and expectations of the viewer himself, who – thanks to the Internet, computer games and VOD – transformed from a passive recipient into an active participant, who treats what already exists as a starting point for his own activity. Technological changes opened up new possibilities for storytelling – their effect are hybrid forms that use both the web-based potential of the Internet and geolocation as well as virtual reality. An interface has become an integral part of the narrative, and a story goes beyond one platform. Characteristic features of the interactive forms include blurred boundaries between genres and contradicting the existing patterns and divisions into fact and fiction.  Many of these are conceptual experiments on the form, narrative, experience, participation and the expansion of the field of activity which belongs to the user who is a co-creator at the same time.  Regardless of the wide range of storytelling possibilities, rules are always the same : what is important is the story and the protagonist. The difference is that viewer himself can be also protagonist.
 

The section KRK INTERACTIVE, organised for the first time by Krakow Film Festival, is dedicated to new forms of reception and creation of documentary films. Within the frames of the programme, there is a presentation of four interactive projects, a lecture introducing into the subject and panel discussion. The introductory lecture is given by William Uricchio, professor from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the following interactive projects will be shown:
 

Whereas the leftish European youth from squats searches for alternative ways of life, the protagonists of the interactive documentary film “4Stelle Hotel” simply seem to have no other option. They come from North Africa, South America and Eastern Europe and not all of them are legal residents of Italy . Thanks to their shared efforts, they transformed a luxurious conference centre on the outskirts of Rome, which had been turned into an empty glass shell by the recent economic crisis, into their home.. The community not only renovated the rooms and adapted them for living so that they could be used by families with children, but also developed its own, efficient system of self-organisation. 4Stelle Hotel" recalls one day from the life of this multi-ethnic community, whose everyday life however does not bring to mind nostalgic memories of hippie communes. The reality of the 4Stelle residents is a fierce,  desperate struggle for home, which for them is not just a shelter, but also the synonym of dignity and the right to defend themselves.
 

Did the landing on the Moon really happen?  Or maybe it was only a collective phantasmagoria, carefully arranged by the American authorities? The protagonist of "The Trip" considers himself one of the people responsible for the greatest hogwash of the contemporary times. Members of the interactive duo Kissinger Twins, Kasia Kifert and Dawid Marcinkowski, met Jack Torrance by coincidence, during their holidays on an exotic island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The mysterious stranger took them for a short ride through the island, and, while driving, –told them a story which was an alternative version of what the couple knew from the official historical accounts. In their project, Kissinger Twins take the viewer on a virtual journey, the same as the one they took part in themselves. Music by Andrzej Smolik and meticulously chosen archival materials support the guide’s confabulations.  
 

The creators of "Warsaw Rising 1944" take us on a real trip in time. It includes almost a hundred years of the history of Poland’s capital city: beginning with the regaining of independence by the country in 1918, then WWII, the uprising, after which the "Paris of the North" was turned into ruin, reconstruction, times of political transformation, to its image today. The project, which is a result of co-operation between the Warsaw Rising Museum  and the Bright Media company, transfers the exhibition dedicated to the Warsaw Rising shown last year in Berlin at the Documentation Centre Topography of Terror, to the screen. ,   A simple interface and unique archival materials enable the viewer to become submerged in the city’s turbulent history. The project is also a perfect example of how to tailor a story about history to the needs of the viewer, spoilt by contemporary technology.
 

There is something fascinating and strangely paradoxical in the relationship between the Internet and seduction / sex. The Internet has become a place of all fantasies and fetishes, where images presenting all possible forms of sexuality can be consumed. It is a place of discussions, meeting people and flirting. Although the screen can be used  as a mask behind which shy people can hide and unhappy lovers reinvent themselves in this game of seduction, it sometimes becomes the opposite – an insurmountable barrier when action needs to be taken, when desire burns and bodies yearn to come together.

Love Hotel is an adult Web Xperience for two. Conceived in conjunction with a documentary film made by Phil Cox and Hikaru Toda, this experience aims to reproduce, virtually, a moment spent in one of Japan’s countless Love Hotels where couples meet to love, play, (re)discover each other and spend an intimate moment outside of time and their everyday lives. 

After the presentation, there will be a discussion "Story and technology, or what is this interactivity for?" with Malwina Antoniszczak, Zdenek Blaha, Phil Cox, Ewa Przybylak, Łukasz Górka, William Uricchio, hosted by Marcin Marczyk (FilmPRO)
Organised in co-operation with the magazine Film PRO, Institute of Documentary Film and Visegrad Doc Tank.