Hot Docs 2025 Reviews
As North America’s largest documentary film festival unfolds from April 25 to May 5, I’ll cover a selection of standout titles daily, highlighting films that resonate with contemporary global issues and compelling personal stories. You can follow my English-language capsule reviews, updated each day of the festival, here. In addition, my French-language radio segment Chronique de Cinéma on Dans la Mosaïque (CBC/Radio-Canada) will be dedicated to the festival over the next two weeks, offering commentary and reflections for francophone audiences in Toronto and beyond.
Chronique Cinéma
Découvrez les critiques de films présentées dans Dans la Mosaïque sur Ici Première de Radio-Canada Toronto ! Un vendredi sur deux à 17h30, je rejoins Myriam Eddahia pour analyser les œuvres marquantes de la saison. Dans la section Chronique Cinéma, accédez aux critiques complètes, explorez en profondeur ces films, et écoutez les rediffusions des émissions pour ne rien manquer.
Film Reviews
Anthology Book
Interactive Narratives: The Evolution of Storytelling in the Digital Age
Edited by Hudson Moura
In Preparation
The transformative potential of interactivity within novels, films, games, and digital media has created a dynamic dialogue between human creativity and technological innovation. From the epistolary novel to immersive digital media, interactive storytelling has evolved, challenging traditional, linear modes of narrative while fostering new relationships between creators, audiences, and interactive platforms.
This anthology, Interactive Narratives, seeks to explore the multidimensional nature of interactivity across various narrative platforms in the XXI century. By tracing its historical roots and mapping its modern manifestations, this volume will investigate how the concept of interactive narratives is reshaping narrative experiences and the theoretical and practical implications for creators, audiences, and archivists. We aim to compile cutting-edge research and theoretical reflections highlighting interactivity as a narrative tool and a mode of user agency that adds complexity to storytelling while expanding the boundaries of narrative engagement.
Focus Areas of the Volume:
The book is tentatively organized into five core sections, each offering conceptual directions to help orient contributors regarding the thematic focus and structure. These frameworks are intended as points of reference to inspire proposals rather than prescriptive theories to be strictly applied. Contributors are encouraged to develop their ideas within these themes without needing to specifically reference or apply the outlined theories or authors:
1. Duality and Ethics of Active and Passive Engagement:
Drawing on Žižek’s theory, interactive narratives blend both active and passive user roles. While user choices may appear to guide the narrative, interpassivity reveals how users sometimes adopt passive modes in complex digital systems. This section invites contributors to explore how narratives shift between user participation and algorithmic controls, balancing user agency with predetermined outcomes. Or, contributors may reflect on the ethical implications of user manipulation in digital storytelling, questioning the boundaries of user freedom versus design control and potential biases created by algorithmic choices.
2. Technological Affordances and User Agency:
Building on Janet Murray’s framework of procedural and participatory affordances, this theme will explore how technological design and procedural logic shape the boundaries of user agency in interactive storytelling. Contributors are encouraged to examine how technological innovation balances freedom and constraint within interactive narratives, enhancing narrative engagement through user-driven interaction and system-generated structure.
3. Perceptual and Affective Dimensions:
This section focuses on how user perceptions of interactivity—including narrative complexity, emotional engagement, and user impact—create immersive and emotionally resonant narrative experiences. Contributors are invited to explore how interactive storytelling fosters emotional depth and audience attachment through perceived control and reactive content, where user actions seem to directly influence narrative outcomes.
4. Narrative Complexity and User Involvement:
Drawing upon Henry Jenkins’ concept of additive comprehension, this section will address how narrative complexity and user involvement are intertwined in interactive storytelling. Contributors are encouraged to examine how branching storylines, multiple endings, and user choices can deepen the complexity of narratives, creating richer and more immersive experiences without diminishing the overall structure. This section will explore how interactive narratives balance user participation and maintaining narrative depth.
5. Archiving Digital Culture:
Drawing on Foucault’s insights alongside practical approaches by scholars like Lowood, Kirschenbaum, and Rinehart, this section critically frames digital archives as sites of preservation and power, shaping cultural heritage and access to interactive media. Contributors are invited to explore the preservation of virtual reality, multimedia installations, software, interactive fiction, and video game narratives. This area emphasizes innovative solutions for maintaining these media’s interactive and experiential qualities for future research and accessibility.
This volume will unite diverse perspectives and pioneering research, significantly contributing to the rapidly growing field of interactive media studies.
Chapter Requirements:
Final chapters should be 4,000-6,000 words, adhering to MLA 9th edition. Full chapters are due by 14 July 2025.
Important Dates:
- Chapter submission: 14 July 2025
About the Volume:
This volume will be part of the Interactive Film and Media (IFM) Book Series, published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. The series aims to advance scholarly discussions on interactivity in film and media.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Hudson Moura ([email protected]). We look forward to receiving your proposals and insights into this evolving field.active storytelling. Submission for the volume is separate from the conference presentation, and inclusion will be subject to peer review.
VII Interactive Film & Media Annual Conference
RESONANCES
June 10-13, 2025, Online
The 7th Interactive Film and Media Conference is excited to announce its Call for Proposals centered around the captivating and multifaceted theme of “Resonances.”
Resonance is the ability to form deep, meaningful connections that provoke thoughts, evoke emotions, and stimulate the senses through personal images and memories, often drawing on an individual or community’s lived experiences. This concept is intrinsically linked to the dailiness of our lives—our routine encounters and personal interactions that shape our subjective cognitions and the associations we form with others. In our contemporary society, the increasing pace of life challenges our ability to engage in deep, interpersonal connections, leading to a decline in the meaningfulness of our communications. Yet, through these daily interactions, resonance finds its most potent expression.
Interactive film and media offer a unique lens through which we can confront our world, contemplate the nature of our relationships, and carefully observe its intricacies. Resonance is not just about aligning with the context, content, and audience but also about listening and connecting on a level that acknowledges the everyday rhythms that bind us. As we reflect on the type of experiences we engender each day, we must explore how we can foster profound and substantial connections with our peers. What kind of day are we creating, what kind of web of relationships can we construct, and how can we resonate together as vibrant matter? Resonance, imagined through the prism of dailiness, invites us to consider whether and why stories produced and shared may align (or not) with the predispositions of the intended audience and what other dimensions of cultural and social resonance may serve as sites of reflection. Does resonance in our daily lives solve problems, aggravate them, or generate new issues? How can we reimagine resonance to build more meaningful connections in the fabric of our everyday existence, and how can these connections influence our responses to crises, foster resilience, nurture solidarities, and strengthen collective actions?
Response: Amidst crises—war, environmental degradation, inequity—our future remains unstable, and our lives are often uncontrollable. The challenge lies in forming a thoughtful response. How do we decide our stance, choose between hope and despair, and navigate the balance between being reactive and responsive? How does one respond?
Resilience: Engaged media work demands resilience to confront the chaos and cruelty of the 21st century. How do we sustain vision, adapt to new processes, and build resilient media practices? Can resilience be a form of resistance and build multi-vocal communities, and what structures support this effort?
Solidarities: Globalization’s impacts are felt in environmental, economic, and cultural arenas, often perpetuating stereotypes and Western dominance. How can we create solidarities across social differences that challenge these narratives? How can grassroots movements replace institutional discourses, fostering discomforting yet necessary change?
Collective: In a divided, isolated society, yet one that is hyper-connected, collective action is essential. How can collective activities and a sense of belonging deepen our shared experiences? What media practices can cultivate affective collectivity that challenges the status quo and fosters alternative futures?
Sessions will also allow participants to share their views and profiles, setting the stage for dynamic and meaningful exchanges and networking.
The #IFM2025 Resonances Conference aligns with the core themes of meaningful connection, daily interactions, and the transformative role of media in shaping our understanding of the world. We are seeking submissions that critically engage with these themes, pushing the boundaries of traditional thought and practice to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing discourse in interactive film and media.
INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE FACILITATORS (TBA)
The Interactive Dialogue Sessions, conceived by Professor Patty Zimmermann, are crafted to foster participant engagement through focused daily discussions centered around one of the conference themes. Each day, a prominent scholar or practitioner will lead the discussions, bringing diverse perspectives and insights. These s
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Hudson Moura, Chair (Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson, Canada)
Heidi Rae Cooley (The University of Texas at Dallas, USA)
Stefano Odorico (Technological University of the Shannon, Ireland)
Dale Hudson (NYU Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
Leah Shafer (Hobart and William Smith Colleges, USA)
Marta Fiolic (NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Il Sun Moon (Kingston University, UK)
Logan Acton (The University of Texas at Dallas, USA)
Sonali Sharma (Jamia Millia University, India)
FULL FREE ADMISSION
The conference promotes inclusivity and equity, with no fees for participation or publication.
COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVITY AND EQUITY
At IFM, we are deeply committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and accessible environment. We prioritize accessibility, gender parity, ethnic diversity, and LGBTQ+ inclusion in our work. We encourage applicants to align with these values and contribute to creating a welcoming and empowering space for all. Get familiar with Our Commitments.
Subscribe to the #IFM list group to be updated on our deadlines and informed about our new endeavors.
INTERACTIVE FILM AND MEDIA NETWORK
More info: https://journals.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/InteractiveFilmMedia/IFM2025
Contact email: [email protected]
Dossiê Jerusa
An hommage and an extensive collection of Professor Jerusa Pires Ferreira’s articles, conferences, and books’ reviews.
Intermedias Review
Revista Intermídias
