With this issue, DOX celebrates both its 100th issue and 20th birthday. At the core of documentary is the meeting: the meeting of worlds, realities, temperaments, aesthetics, individuals. So what better way to celebrate the world of documentary filmmaking than by inviting some of the most generous, critical, analytical, creative, political and poetic minds to meet and engage in conversation?

This space, where a meeting unfolds and a dialogue takes place, is where documentary, in its many facets, will be explored. In accordance with the diverse nature of documentary, the form of the conversations varies. There are no slots, no certain lengths, no formatted style, and no conclusions need to be reached. The only guiding principle is the questioning.

Conversations are by nature open-ended, full of digressions, you don’t necessarily know where you’re going, and they move in different ways and with a different rhythm, according to temperaments and relationships. But as filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer says: ‘When I make films, I don’t want to know where I am going’ and, from the viewing side of the screen, director of Visions du Réel, Luciano Barisone remarks: ‘We keep movies that fascinate us during the first ten minutes, but don’t show us where they will go.’

DOX in Dialogue wants to celebrate the diversity, the magic, and the power of documentary as an art form with a strong desire to communicate, to move, to tell stories, and at the same time challenge narratives, and since we are ‘creatures of the imagination’ as producer Joslyn Barnes and Cara Mertes from the Ford Foundation agree, this is indeed an important endeavour.

In the DOX tradition, the people selected from the industry are from different fields: filmmakers, festival directors, decision makers, and interactive storytellers.

To illustrate the meetings between the documentary hearts and minds, Sophie Winqvist and Elin Maria Johansson, have created unique, imaginary landscapes.

Thank you to the generous contributors for engaging in these beautiful meetings. _ 

Vibeke Bryld