For the centenary, the Guardian has recently launched an interactive documentary: First World War: the story of a global conflict. Produced with the support of the Imperial War Museum, the documentary takes an international approach, having been translated into seven languages; English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Hindi and Arabic.
Combining archival footage, photos, spoken reproductions of letters and poems, newspaper articles and information provided by specialist historians, the documentary provides a an innovative perspective on the conflict through an interactive digital platform. Split into seven different chapters, the documentary aims to represent the war from origins to its aftermath.
Screen image from the online documentary.
Francesca Panetta, multimedia special projects editor for the Guardian and director of the documentary, said: “The story of the First World War is often given through the eyes of a single country. The Guardian is a global media company and the war a global story. Our aim was therefore to show the whole picture, both editorially and technically. As far as I know, we’ve never done such an ambitious project in so many languages. I hope this will be a resource people can use for years.”
Contributing historian Dr Santanu Das, Reader in English Literature, King’s College London, said: “Ambitious, imaginative and truly international in scope, this is an immensely attractive and valuable resource. Weaving together images, film-clips, documents, maps, sound-effects, and voices of historians from ten different countries, it shows how modern technology can help to immerse us in the complex, multiple and parallel histories of the First World War, as we move across empires, nations and fronts.”
This online resource can be accessed here.
Please note that the Guardian warn that the linked site contains images viewers might find disturbing.
Information and Images provided by the Guardian News & Media Press Office
Posted by: Ellen Tranter, Centenary News