Participatory filmmaking for development

A short film that gives an overview of some of our arts projects.
https://vimeo.com/217571746

We've been involved with a wide range of projects in the UK and abroad. What they have in common is that they are all focussed on dealing with the legacy of 'difficult pasts' and also on supporting marginalised groups to effect change in their lives.

Paul Cooke is the director of the Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures at the University of Leeds
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125052/centre_for_world_cinemas

All this activity began with the 'Screening European Heritage' project. This was an AHRC Care for the Future project looking at the ways in which historical dramas across Europe reflect, and generate, debates about history, heritage and national identity. It was led by Paul Cooke and Rob Stone.

Rob Stone is the co-director of B-Film at the University of Birmingham
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/b-film/index.aspx

A showreel of the project made by Rob Stone.
https://vimeo.com/75686982

All the activities undertaken by the project are collected together on the project website.
https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/screeningeuropeanheritage/

The project looked at a wide range of films across Europe. We were consulted by the government on the relationship of film to national identity, tourism and 'soft power'.

Here's the House of Lords report that our project contributed to.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldselect/ldsoftpower/150/15004.htm

https://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/House-of-Lords-report-on-Persuasion-and-power-in-the-modern-world-594x360.jpg

http://www.kijufi.de

As a result of the 'Screening European Heritage' Project, we were invited to spend a week working with young people from Leeds, East Germany and West Germany at the former main prison of the East German Secret Police. We explored the way Germany's difficult past is represented on TV and cinema screens and what lessons can be learnt from the period of history for young people today. We worked with the British Film Institute Academy, Landesverband Kinder- und Jugendfilm Berlin e. V. and Bautzen memorial to make a series of short films about the issues we discussed.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/education-research/5-19-film-education-scheme-2013-2017/bfi-film-academy-scheme

https://en.stsg.de/cms/node/977

https://en.stsg.de/cms/sites/default/files/u5/Innenansicht%20Bautzen%20II.gif

This is the film we made as a 'trailer' to the project, which discusses what we did during our week at Bautzen II Prison.
https://vimeo.com/135783634

Here are some of the films we made during the project.

Here's the project film we produced that shows the films the students made, but also how they felt about the project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc6TL2F67Z8&t=12s

This is a film that the UK students made after their week in Bautzen, reflecting on how the issues raised by their research on East Germany relate to their experience of life in Leeds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX0-Af6yeO8&t=2s

This AHRC project is run by Steph Dennison of CWCDC at Leeds and has looked at the role of film in public diplomacy across the 'BRICS' nations.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/softpower

This project gave rise to other research projects for the Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures.

Stephanie Dennison talks about the AHRC Network Project she leads.
https://vimeo.com/197900217

This AHRC project, led by Paul Cooke, looked at the way digital tools have been used to open up heritage to new audiences.
http://www.digitalheritage.leeds.ac.uk/files/2014/10/AHRC_Cultural_Value_CR-Experiencing-the-Digital1.pdf

This is the Yarn story that gives an overview of the work we did on our AHRC project, using digital tools to explore 'difficult heritage'. This included exploring the legacy of the Holocaust, difficult child birth and PTSD.
https://yarncommunity.org/stories/292

These projects led to further work with different communities, looking at how digital tools can be used to help them explore difficult historical questions and how they relate to their lives today.

From Participatory filmmaking for development by Paul Cooke

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnathBqWIAAgKHK.jpg

https://vimeo.com/161292789

Our work led us to collaborate with the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation.

A film about the first project we undertook with the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation, led by Stuart Taberner.
https://vimeo.com/124141383

https://vimeo.com/175728198

We also worked on another AHRC participatory arts project exploring the legacy of the Holocaust for young BME students from Leeds through dance.

This is a short film of the first set of workshops we ran in Tshepo Hope 'Safe Park', Tsakane.
https://vimeo.com/156996812

In South Africa we also began to work with the Bishop Simeon Trust and Themba Interactive to use filmmaking and other artistic practices to support the young and vulnerable people they support across Gauteng to raise awareness of the issues that they face in their daily lives. This became the #Changing the Story project that we continue to work on today.

We later took out some students from the University of Leeds to work on our second round of filmmaking.
https://vimeo.com/187562219

More can be found out about this work on the project website.
https://changingthestorysite.wordpress.com

The first of these used YARN to work together with BST, Themba and the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Foundation to explore the implications of xenophobia for the young people they support in their 'Safe Parks'.
https://yarncommunity.org/stories/448

This work continues to grow, and we've received funding for 2 more AHRC projects connected to our work with Themba and Bishop Simeon Trust. These project are part of the broader Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), set up by the UK government to support international development.

A Yarn story reflecting on a week-long leadership workshop run by the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
https://yarncommunity.org/stories/463

One of the films made by a group of young people inspired by our work the the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.
https://vimeo.com/214825570

In India we've been working with the Budhan Theatre to raise awareness of the plight of 'denotified' tribes.
http://rediscoveringtheradical.org.uk/programme/budhan-theatre/

The second of our GCRF projects saw our participatory arts programme expand to work with groups in India (led by Will Gould) and Brazil (led by Stephanie Dennison). The particular focus was on the privileged place historical dramas made for the large and small screen frequently have in 'nation-branding' exercises. The project began with an investigation of how all three nations use their history as an important asset within their 'soft power' strategies, focussing in particular on the instrumentalisation of film in each country.

The project then worked with international development agencies to explore how these national narratives are experienced by some of the most marginalised groups within these societies. Through a process of co-production the project team made a series of video responses by these groups to the way their nations' histories are presented to the world. The purpose of the videos was be to support these groups to reflect upon their place in society, allowing them to contextualize their struggles globally by learning from the experience of our other case studies, and to develop awareness-raising campaigns.

In Brazil we've been working with Plan Brazil to support vulnerable girls in Codó.
https://plan-international.org/brazil

http://www.themba.org.za

BST and Themba support vulnerable young people across Gauteng.
http://www.bstrust.org

An earlier film made by Will Gould of the University of Leeds and our project partner Dakxin Bajrange.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCk3QOYAhB4

A short film of a workshop organised by CWCDC as part of the University of Leeds' 'Sadler Seminar' series. This was funded by the University, the AHRC's GCRF and its Open World Research Initiative.
https://vimeo.com/221717410

At the start of 2017 we organised a seminar looking at the role of participatory arts in development, as part of our GCRF work and to explore future ideas.

This is a description of the large OWRI project that CWCDC has been working with.
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/manchester-led-consortium-wins-39-million-to-research-languages-and-communities/

This event was part of a number of workshop run by CWCDC during 2016-17, looking at how digital technologies are opening up communication possibilities for some communities, while closing them off for others.
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/20045/leeds_humanities_research_institute/2842/remapping_world_cinemas_for_the_digital_age

a brief description of one of our current GCRF projects. This we're working on in partnership with the Nuffield Centre at Leeds and HERD INTERNATIONAL in Nepal.
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/news/article/5020/professor_paul_cooke_awarded_ahrc_grant

More recently our work has developed still further. We just been awarded some further GCRF funding to work on a participatory filmmaking project in Nepal. This will use filmmaking to support communities to find solutions to the wide-spread misuse of antibiotics across the country.

A picture showing some of the work undertaken by HERD INTERNATIONAL
http://www.herdint.com/uploads/frontend/homesliderphoto/1480933014-rajesh%20ghimire.jpg