Digital Transmedia Forms and Transnational Documentary Networks

This chapter seeks a better articulation of the concerns that arise for Australian documentary studies from the shift to a discourse of transnational film studies in relation to this shift in topics for Australian documentaries. It also considers the ways in which these documentaries have appeared in the digital era. While it is important to acknowledge how the scholarly discourse has shifted, it is equally important to understand this phenomenon in relation to the substantial changes that have occurred in what is euphemistically termed the Australian film industry. In order to undertake this articulation, it is important to recognise how documentary film in this country has been understood as part of a national cinema and to trace the international characteristics of Australian documentary. The chapter also examines the discourse of what the author calls a transnational documentary network as it operates in Australia, focusing on Steve Thomas and Lisa Horler's Freedom Stories.