This work explores the interactive documentary as a hybrid, emergent cultural form that has been shaped by the growth of digital interactive entertainment. Through investigation and analysis of the historical background of documentary, the research discusses the development of documentary film, examining the notions of truth, objectivity and authorship in factual media, and their relationship with existing understandings of interactivity. Critical parameters are then derived to objectify the process of deconstructing interactive and documentary media forms. An inclusive view is taken on the categorisation and classification of interactive documentary, informed by the fundamental constructs of both traditional documentary and interactive media. The constructs and structures of interaction and narrative are highlighted to facilitate the identification and examination of existing examples of factual interactive entertainment– from computer generated documentary games to navigable filmic forms. The thesis proposes a range of characterisation frameworks for the study of interactive documentary and these are applied towards case study analysis of sixteen interactive productions. The final work presented in this thesis proposes a theoretical framework for the analysis and development of immersive, interactive documentary experiences, encompassing the processes of content creation and consumption from the perspectives of both audience and director.

This essay follows a Media Teacher in her work as a coordinator and an artistic leader for a European project called Legalopoli concerning laws and ethics in a senior level school for 13-16 year-olds in Mora, Sweden. The students write film stories about how their characters have to make choices in ethical dilemma situations. Then the learners create interactive computer games together through practical film work. At the same time we can see how the educator also gets into difficult ethical situations, when she is working with the students. This forces her to self-reflection. She realizes that the practical knowledge in her work has a greater deal of an ethical dimension, than she earlier has been aware of. She understands that the convincing force in the project consists of the confidence and trust she has to create and develop among the students, who, in the start, were unsure and lacked in respect for one another. Through the practical film work they all get close and learn to see both themselves and each other. The students develop from being afraid of saying anything in the group to become confident and capable media producers, where their voices get listened to. They have started a journey into becoming democratic and caring citizens with wider perspectives of themselves and of the world. / Denna essä följer en mediepedagogs arbete som koordinator och konstnärlig ledare för ett Europeiskt projekt kallat Legalopoli, om lagar och etik i en högstadieskola i Mora. Eleverna skriver filmberättelser om rollkaraktärer, som ställs inför olika etiska dilemman i det interaktiva dataspel, som studenterna gemensamt skapar genom praktiskt filmarbete. Samtidigt får vi följa hur pedagogen på samma sätt, ställs inför olika svåra valsituationer i det pågående arbetet med eleverna. Hon tvingas till självreflektion och inser att den praktiska kunskapen i hennes arbete innehar en större etisk dimension än hon tidigare trott. Hon inser att bärkraften i projektet är det förtroende och den tillit, som hon måste skapa och utveckla bland eleverna, som från början var osäkra och betedde sig respektlöst mot varandra. Genom det praktiska filmarbetet kommer de alla nära varandra och får efter hand syn på både sig själva och varandra. Eleverna utvecklas från att ha varit rädda för att yttra sig i gruppen, till att bli tillitsfulla och kapabla medieproducenter, där de får göra sina röster hörda. De påbörjar en bildningsresa till att bli demokratiska och solidariska medborgare med vidgade perspektiv på sig själva och världen.