Showcasing new and unexpected forms of digital documentary storytelling
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Past events
DocLab at SXSW 2012 12 Mar 2012 at 15:30
IDFA DocLab presents two sessions on interactive documentary at SXSW. With Jeremy Mendes (NFB), Marshall Heald (SBS Australia) and Caspar Sonnen (IDFA DocLab).
Exhibition: Expanding Documentary 2011 25 Nov 2011 at 10:00
Interactive installations, immersive performances and other unexpected representations of reality, presented by IDFA DocLab, Paradocs and Brakke Grond.
Live Cinema Event: Stories We Love to Forget 23 Nov 2011 at 22:00
An evening packed with embarrassing, true stories told live on stage. With Micha Wertheim, Paulien Cornelisse, Kevin Allison (The Risk Show) and someone reading an excerpt from their adolescent diary.
The Ninth Floor
This photo documentary with audio commentary spends three years in the lives of heroin addicts residing in a Manhattan apartment building.
In 2004, between 20 and 30 young heroin addicts lived on the ninth floor of an apartment complex on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The electricity had been cut off, the bathroom was unusable, everything of value had been sold, and everyone was shooting up any way they could.
For three years, filmmaker Jessica Dimmock followed the people living in this version of hell — continuing even after everyone had been evicted and some were trying to kick the habit.
The Ninth Floor opens with Jessie’s story — she explains how many times she has come close to overdosing. Then there are Dionne and Rachel, who constantly have violent arguments, even after Rachel ends up pregnant. As we look at Dimmock’s photos, we hear the voices of the occupants.
Many of the images are of arms covered in needle marks, and they tell the story of the high that the addicts chase every day despite the misery in which they live.
The Ninth Floor is one of the projects published on mediastorm.org, which uses animation, audio, video, and photography to create stories about the human condition. Since their launch in 2005, MediaStorm has won two Emmy Awards and four Webby Awards.
Tags DocLab 2009, Photography, Video, Watch Online
Project details
Year of development :2009Created by:Jessica Dimock
With:MediaStorm
