Socially Engaged Film from the City's Margins
Since September 2021, a small team of researchers from the University of Bristol - Nick, Abir and Ethel - have been helping a group of young filmmakers at an adventure playground in Easton make documentary films reflecting their social concerns in these extraordinary times.
In January 2022, a community gardening group from the social housing tower blocks of Dove Street invited the team to begin another cycle of their study, to record and extend the social action of their group.
Unlike many community media interventions, the researchers did not seek to direct or shape the narrative or aesthetic approaches of the filmmakers: instead, their distinctive styles and voices were honoured at all times. This participatory orientation was also central to the research itself: the filmmakers reflections on both the process and product remaining central to the findings of this study.
The films from Felix Road and Dove Street range in focus from green space deprivation to the lost voices of teenagers in pandemic discourse. What they all share is a commitment to social justice and change.