Korsakow research leader Matt Soar shares his thoughts on the future and longevity of non-linear documentaries, and given his position, it makes for an enticing read.  He predicts that these open source programs will eventually last longer than their commercial counterparts, because they involve a greater community involvement and offer much more diversity and are more readily accessible to the broader society.   Both arguments are huge factors when considering the evolution of software.

Perhaps the statement that resonated most with me was Soar’s description of Korsakow film as a medium, which he describes as “an extended exercise in interactive spatial montage”, where the term ‘spatial montage’ is described by Lev Manovich as “a number of images, potentially of different sizes and proportions, appearing on the screen at the same time”.

Soar goes on to discuss the crucial importance of the Korsakow interface for audiences, quoting Will Luers when explaining  that “the narration of the database is through the interface; its design, entry points, absences, spatial complexity and simultaneity”.

Soar, Matt. “Making (with) the Korsakow System: Database Documentaries as Articulation and Assemblage.” New Documentary Ecologies Emerging Platforms, Practices and Discourses. Ed. Kate Nash, Craig Hight, and Catherine Summerhayes. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 154–73.