Fort McMoney

Lore & Background

Fort McMoney was produced over two years of research, with 60 days of filming in more than 22 locations in Fort McMurray, including 55 interviews. The project shot 2000 hours of footage at a cost of C$870,000. It is a collaboration of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and TOXA in association with Arte. The project features photographs by Philippe Brault.

Reader's Guide

The game consists of three episodes, each played in real-time over a four-week period starting November 25. Users decide on the virtual future of the city while exploring its social, economic, political and cultural history. Players can virtually walk around the city, meet residents, ask questions, vote in referendums and surveys, engage in debates, and attempt to win others over to their worldview to influence the city's development. The game is trilingual: available in English, French, and German. Fort McMoney was launched at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, with pre-launch events in Paris, Toronto and Montreal. It was also accessible online via four media partners: The Globe and Mail and Radio-Canada in Canada, as well as France's Le Monde and Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung. In February 2015, Fort McMoney was named Best Original Interactive Production Produced for Digital Media at the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards.

Did You Know?

• Fort McMoney was directed by David Dufresne, who previously directed an award-winning webdoc about Cañon City, Colorado, entitled Prison Valley.
• The project cost C$870,000 and involved 2000 hours of footage shot over two years of research.
• The game is trilingual, available in English, French, and German.
• It won Best Original Interactive Production Produced for Digital Media at the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards in February 2015.

Concept & Interactive Gameplay

Fort McMoney, released in 2013 under the direction of David Dufresne, blends documentary filmmaking with strategy-game mechanics to let audiences shape the virtual destiny of Fort McMurray, Alberta, and its Athabasca oil sands operations. Rather than passively watching a narrative unfold, players step into a living simulation of the city, exploring its social, economic, political, and cultural layers over a structured timeline. The experience is divided into three episodes, each unfolding in real time across a four-week span that begins on November 25. During that period, users can stroll through virtual streets, strike up conversations with residents, and pose questions. Every week brings new referendums and surveys whose outcomes ripple through the city's development. Players also engage in debates and try to persuade fellow participants to adopt their own "worldview," making collective influence a core mechanic. To ensure broad accessibility, the entire project was produced in three languages—English, French, and German—reflecting its international ambitions and the multilingual reality of its subject matter.

Production & Creative Vision

The making of Fort McMoney was a substantial undertaking that demanded years of groundwork before a single frame was captured. David Dufresne, who has long been drawn to stories centered on single-industry towns, spent two years conducting research before production began. That research culminated in 60 days of on-location filming spread across more than 22 sites within Fort McMurray, yielding 2,000 hours of raw footage and 55 in-depth interviews with local residents. The total production budget reached C$870,000. The project was a joint effort between the National Film Board of Canada and TOXA, working in association with France's Arte. Philippe Lamarre and Raphaëlle Huysmans handled production on the TOXA side, while Hugues Sweeney and Dominique Willieme oversaw the NFB side. Visual photography was contributed by Philippe Brault. Dufresne's prior work, the award-winning webdoc Prison Valley about Cañon City, Colorado, demonstrated his affinity for communities defined by a single economic engine, a sensibility that clearly informed his approach to Alberta's oil-sands town.

International Launch & Distribution

Fort McMoney's debut was a carefully staged international event. The project was officially launched at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, giving it a prominent European stage. Pre-launch screenings and events were organized in three additional cities: Paris, Toronto, and Montreal. The Montreal showing was integrated into Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal, an established international documentary festival, lending the release further institutional credibility. Beyond festival circuits, the team secured online distribution through four major media partners spanning the three languages in which the project was produced. In Canada, The Globe and Mail and Radio-Canada carried the content, while in France, Le Monde served as the partner, and in Germany, Süddeutsche Zeitung took on the role. This multi-platform, multi-country rollout ensured that the interactive documentary could reach audiences across North America and Europe simultaneously, aligning with the trilingual design philosophy that underpinned the entire production.

Recognition & Lasting Impact

Though released in 2013, Fort McMoney continued to earn recognition well into the following year. At the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards in February 2015, the project took home the honor for Best Original Interactive Production Produced for Digital Media, a distinction that highlighted its innovative fusion of documentary storytelling with participatory game design. The award underscored how the work pushed the boundaries of what a web-based documentary could be, transforming viewers into active decision-makers rather than passive observers. Dufresne maintained a public presence around the project, including a director's blog published on the French-language edition of Huffington Post, where he discussed the creative and political dimensions of letting audiences make their worldview triumph in the virtual city. The existence of an official website and the project's continued availability through its media partners ensured that the interactive experience remained accessible to new audiences long after its festival run, cementing its place as a landmark experiment in participatory digital storytelling about resource-dependent communities.