Iluminace 2019, 31(2):45-65 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1619

Moderate Diversity. Czech Documentary Film between Platforms

Lucie Česálková
Univerzita Karlova

This study explores the transformation of documentary formats and genres through online distribution and participation in the Czech Republic. Based on interviews with the actors of the documentary industry, analysis of the participatory level of specific documentary films (projects) and analysis of production strategies and programming of online television, it analyzes the extent to which new trends truly influenced documentary filmmaking in the Czech Republic. It focuses primarily on the degree of openness and permeability between traditional actors and institutions of the documentary industry and new actors or sub-disciplines, explores ways of collaborating and co-creating on digital documentary projects, whether and how the professional documentary professional community is changing, and how new impulses and practices influence the concept of what is perceived as "documentary" by the professional community. It focuses on three key areas - participatory projects based on crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, interactive documentaries, and online television programming. In general, the study explores the thesis that the situation in the Czech "digital document" is influenced by the local tradition of documentary filmmaking and the market position of small national cinema in the wider framework of global media industries. In the individual subchapters it puts the situation in the Czech Republic into the context of more general foreign trends and explains it against this background.

Keywords: documentary film, online distribution, participation, interactive documentary, crowdfunding, online TV

Published: June 1, 2019  Show citation

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Česálková, L. (2019). Moderate Diversity. Czech Documentary Film between Platforms. Iluminace, 31(2), 45-65. doi: 10.58193/ilu.1619
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