The Big Issue: A Web Documentary on the Obesity Epidemic

Why are human beings getting so fat? This is the simple but powerful question at the heart of the interactive documentary The Big Issue. The user goes on a personal journey into the causes of the explosive increase in obesity in contemporary society. The UN World Health Organization predicts that 2.3 billion people will be obese by 2015 -- making our world "Planet XXL", as The Big Issue calls it. Co-director Samuel Bollendorff was also responsible for last year's Doc Lab project Journey to the End of Coal, which employed the same principle: just like in a classic interactive game, the user chooses his or her own route through the available film clips and interviews. Those who wish to complete the story at the end of their journey can also choose to view any of the 10 interviews separately. Interviewees include a French doctor, an American family, and a European Commission lobbyist.