CIA: Operation Ajax

First there was the Internet, and now the tablet has been discovered as a medium for innovative storytelling, inspiring unexpected and inventive hybrids. This award-winning app is equal parts animation documentary, spectacularly designed graphic novel and in-depth journalistic reconstruction. Inspired by Stephen Kinzer's book All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, CIA: Operation Ajax reveals how the battle for black gold in the Arab world broke out long before the Second World War. The British rulers had an iron grip on Iranian oil supplies until the dissident Mohammed Mossadegh arrived on the scene. Political tensions continued to rise, leading to the CIA-supported coup that brought down the Iranian democracy in 1953. With Kinzer's help, Mike De Seve adapted the historical events to create 10 chapters that come together in a filmic reading experience. The user swipes and brushes his or her way from image to image, each of them subtly and functionally animated, accompanied by a realistic soundtrack. CIA: Operation Ajax isn't a graphic novel, an animation or a documentary - it's all of them at the same time. Director Daniel Burwen has been one of the main speakers at the IDFA Interactive Documentary Conference.