The project was launched in 2021 by Drs. Judith Aston and Stefano Odorico through an i-Docs Community Conversation. This brought together a core group of theorists and makers who were active participants in the i-Docs symposia between 2011-2018 and who had a longstanding shared interest in documentary and polyphony.
Since then, the project has expanded to include more than 100 documentary makers and theorists from around the world. We have participants from countries as diverse as India, China, Turkey, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada and the USA, which is important to our cross-cultural and decentering approach.
Judith and Stefano are the project’s convenors but the project aims to be as non-hierarchical as possible, creating a carnivalesque space through which to share ideas and co-create small-scale projects. As the project progresses, we will provide more information about our participants and their motivations for joining this community.
Meanwhile:
Dr Judith Aston is Co-founder of i-Docs and an Associate Professor in Film and Digital Arts at the University of the West of England in Bristol. She is an active teacher and researcher and also Chairs the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Film Committee which curates their biannual Ethnographic Film Festival.
Dr Stefano Odorico is a lecturer, a curator and a filmmaker, currently lecturing at the Technological University of the Shannon (Ireland). He is also co-organiser of the Interactive Film and Media Conference (IFM), co-founder and member of the consultative board of Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media and Visiting Research Fellow at Leeds Trinity University (UK).
Polyphonic Documentary 