The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) has announced the launch of Doc.Lab.Interact, an interactive documentary storytelling lab.

The lab is hosted by UK creative studio Anagram, and is designed to teach non-fiction creators how to turn a documentary project into a blueprint for an interactive or immersive work. These works could be a playable game, a virtual reality work, or a large-scale immersive experience.

The lab will select four project teams to participate in a series of workshops, one-on-one mentoring sessions and pitch-training exercises with Anagram. This will all begin with a two-hour workshop as part of AIDC’s Innovation Day at this year’s conference. The goal for the project teams will be to develop their ideas to the point where they’re ready to pitch an interactive or immersive blueprint to potential funders, developers, creative tech collaborators and exhibitors.

Anagram has experience in this field, having previously created immersive and interactive works such as Goliath: Playing with Reality (which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival) and Messages to a Post-Human Earth.

“With backgrounds in documentary, we’ve spent the past nine years carving a path for ourselves in this innovative field, [and] we’d love to share what we’ve learnt and continue to learn with the selected participants,” said May Abdalla, director of Anagram, in a news release.

Applications for the lab are open until February 6 to Australian non-fiction practitioners who are currently completing or have recently completed a documentary or factual project. AIDC runs this year from March 6 to 9, and is scheduled to be a hybrid event with both in-person and online components. It will be complemented by an online-only international marketplace from March 10 to 11.