www.nfb.ca/faraway

Far Away From Far Away is an interactive story inspired by the early life of visionary Zita Cobb. Written by Michael Crummey, it’s about a young girl growing up on Fogo Island with her father during the 1960s and ’70s. More than a historical retelling, it interprets its time and place, painting a vivid portrait of rural island life.

Designed exclusively for mobile devices, Far Away From Far Away uses simple, intuitive navigation to take us into rich, long-form storytelling.

As we travel through the radical upheaval in Fogo Island’s fishing industry, we witness a dramatic transformation of the local communities. With one foot in the past and the other in the future, you’ll tap and swipe through interactive prose, memories and stories.

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, and led by creative directors Bruce Alcock and Jeremy Mendes. Filmed by Justin Simms, with assistance from Fogo Island high school students Bradley Broders, Liam Neil and Jessica Reid. Sound recordist Sacha Ratcliffe and sound designer Shawn Cole round out the key crew.

Far Away From Far Away is a 25-minute mobile experience that blends elements of interactive storytelling and the audio podcast format, offering users a contemporary interpretation of the transformation of Fogo Island. Designed exclusively for touch screens and smartphones, its long-form storytelling serves to challenge the notion that hand-held devices aren’t suitable for deep and extended engagement.

The user experience is an intuitive one, borrowing from behaviour we’re already familiar with through our use of social media such as Instagram Stories and Snapchat. Creative director Jeremy Mendes explains, “By granting the user greater agency in controlling the narrative, they’re able to decide what to interact with, for how long, and in what order. For example, a longer push and hold will reveal a second layer of video. This allows for surprising moments for the user, which they wouldn’t find with straight video.”

The project was built in HTML 5. Even though it was designed for mobile devices, a conscious decision was made not to build an application that users would be forced to download. It’s an experimental project in that it’s a community-based media project made with the participation and support of Fogo Islanders, following closely in the footsteps of “the Fogo Process” and Challenge for Change.

Far Away From Far Away was written by Michael Crummey, based on conversations with Zita Cobb. Bruce Alcock and Jeremy Mendes served as creative directors, with Justin Simms as director of photography, assisted by Fogo Island high school students Bradley Broders, Liam Neil and Jessica Reid. Sound recordist Sacha Ratcliffe and sound designer Shawn Cole round out the key crew. Interactive programming was handled by Vancouver-based digital studio Intergalactic.

Far Away From Far Away marks the next phase in the National Film Board of Canada’s continuing relationship with the people of Fogo Island. More than 50 years ago, a film crew led by Colin Low headed to the island to shoot a series of short videos and films as part of a larger project known as Challenge for Change.

Challenge for Change was a landmark initiative for the NFB. Designed to put the tools to incite social change into the hands of the community, the program gave them a camera and a microphone, i.e., a voice, enabling them to express themselves and be understood by their neighbours as well as their government.

What later became known as “the Fogo Process” started out as a series of 27 films shot on the island by Low. By inviting islanders to speak on film, Low was able to reveal how similar their hopes and fears were, which resulted in real solutions for survival. It essentially put an end to a government plan to resettle the 10 Fogo Island communities. The Fogo Process became the linchpin of the Challenge for Change project and served as a model for community engagement around the world.

In 2010, the NFB returned to Fogo Island along with Zita Cobb’s Shorefast Foundation and the Fogo Island Arts Corporation to open a brand-new, all-digital theatre. It was the first theatre to exist on the island.

With Far Away From Far Away, the NFB is once again revisiting the island, alongside Zita Cobb and two fellow Newfoundlanders—writer Michael Crummey and filmmaker Bruce Alcock—to create a unique mobile experience that connects us in new ways and reimagines the possibilities of an island and its people.