Community Media - Interactive World

What, and where, is community film? In this, the first of three blogs on this topic, I want to explore the big, top-down dimension of broadcasting. Does it have a thriving, retreating, or merely a residual community dimension? When I was growing up in Great Britain in the 1970s there were 3 or 4 TV/film channels to choose from: BBC1, BBC2, ITV and (later) C4. Only wealthy people had access to video cameras and/or projection equipment. How life has changed since then! The explosion and proliferation of ‘choice’ since the 1970s has been remarkable for many people. There has been a rapid and bewildering growth in the production and consumption of moving image media. But it’s not just a story of quantity and quality. As I suggest below, it’s the interrelated of group and media that needs further analysis for community media enthusiasts. A key realization is that the yawning gaps between making, broadcasting and consuming have narrowed beyond recognition in the last decade. The i...

Film: Breaking the Silence Volunteering and Film In this blog I’ve tried to move beyond the tired discourses of PR and Marketing and Management Science, to explore what really happens inside a charity, group or social enterprise when volunteers have a leading, structured and valued role in a film project. I argue below that a film project unlocks creative potential, and that it is an excellent tool for evaluation and improvement. What happened to the outputs? It is tempting to see a film project as something driven by the need to promote your work or your organization; to raise funds, or to increase public awareness. These are solid and worthy objectives. They are also measurable in terms of immediate impact.  If you are successful in your film product then improvements in these areas are likely to result. But many films often just sit on a shelf after the debut screening; there is a sense of deflation and perhaps unfulfilled expectations of being a big hit on YouTube, or a...

A Scene from Te Whare (The House), Dir. Richard Green  Please comment below if there are other sites that you have found helpful for your fim and community work The International Community Film Forum and Facebook Site offers general support and advice for community film makers and participatory video. FilmAid engages communities to shape the messages most needed for their survival and strength. We work with communities to create films and videos in their own voice, and to show these films in the most impactful and appropriate settings. FilmAid screenings range from intimate discussion of 40 people to large outdoor screenings, reaching thousands at one time.  Culture Unplugged . Watch films (documentaries, short films, interviews) at this online film festival. Discover film-makers and their voices. Learn about social issues prevalent in the modern world. Vote for the art & entertainment that is evolved and exists for transformation towards new futu...

Film Review: London River (2009) It was an aesthetic delight to experience the work of Sotigui Kouyaté in his highly engaging last film London River (2009) which won him a ‘Silver Bear’ at the Berlinale Filmfestival . Interviewed in 2001 he explained how he felt about his roles as an African and a storyteller: Let’s be modest. Africa is vast, and it would be pretentious to speak in its name. I’m fighting the battle with words because I’m a storyteller, a griot. Rightly or wrongly, they call us masters of the spoken word. Our duty is to encourage the West to appreciate Africa more. It’s also true that many Africans don’t really know their own continent. And if you forget your culture, you lose sight of yourself. It is said that “the day you no longer know where you’re going, just remember where you came from.” Our strength lies in our culture. Everything I do as a storyteller, a griot, stems from this rooting and openness. Sotigui Kouyaté was a Malinese actor and storyteller w...

Having worked as Director of the International Community Film Forum since 2006, I’m delighted to be serving as one of the Film Editors with the Postcolonial Networks website. We would welcome posts on a variety of topics - from film reviewers and critics, to amateur and professional film makers. The posts from members are an opportunity to share your creativity; to stimulate new conversations and to foster critical dialogues. As a reviewer you might be interested in offering a subversive or experimental reading of mainstream blockbuster films. Perhaps you want to produce a cross-cultural reading that the intended spectator may not have experienced. You may have relevant personal experience that challenges the tired stereotypes that populate our screens. It would be inspiring to read appreciations of film work that has a spiritual dimension; that promote greater understanding between faiths; or that explore the relationships between the material conditions of being and the associated...

The Spectre of Community Rebranded as the Big Society, notions of citizenship and community are back in fashion. To borrow and adapt Marx’s Manifesto (1848), the spectre of the community (not communism) is stalking contemporary society. For some commentators it is feared that an army of community organizers are poised for subversive warfare. Alternatively, the force is an awkward spectre awakened from the vestiges of a tired capitalist system. That’s one side of the argument. The other is that a nostalgic return to the community spirit is just a cover for cuts to public services. Furthermore, there are no plans to limit or democratize corporate economic power, or the private enterprise and management structures. Isn't Big Society linked to less global corporate power? Can a big Society really be forged by simply adding together thousands of local activities? The semantic force of community is oddly resurgent , even as we begin to trace its loss: the familiar lament for lost idea...

In low budget and community film making a lot of attention is paid to the participatory process and less to what creates an imaginative product worthy of a wider public. But I believe that creativity and quality are essential. Experience shows that there’s some core advice that could help you to produce a high impact and engaging product.  With that in mind I’ve produced a short list of tips from my project notebooks. in order to help you to create an award-winning short film.  If you have any other tips and advice or stories, why not share your experiences? We followed a 40 20 40 'Guide' for project time and resources: 40% Pre-Production planning / 20% Production Filming / 40% Post-production - editing, reflecting, promoting, screening We are close to the life of the people involved (by us, for us / inside out) We have a lively sense of where we live: place, environment, or locality = our grassroots, our heritage, our futures ...

1. Postfilm is FREE. We are already bombarded by moving images, simulations and surveillance. We resist merely by volunteering our time and our dedication. We subscribe to Creative Commons. No restriction or ownership, please. 2. Postfilm is COMMUNITIES. Working with others we begin to disrupt a mono-cultural “Industry” that serves limited interests and false commercial tastes. By linking with other postfilm communities we combat shallow and deluded capitalist interest groups. 3. Postfilm is OPEN. We will not be asked to produce qualifications or college certificates; or guild, union, association, industry, or any other exclusive membership card. If you have one, throw it away. 4. Postfilm is a range of Co-OPPORTUNITIES for us to think outside the Box (Office) 5. Postfilm is an act of LOVE. We are enriched by a love for what we do and how we share it. 6. Postfilm welcomes MULTI-MEDIA, and TRANSMEDIA. We resist the strait-jackets of specialisation and creative alienation. We play, we...

Thanks to everyone who has taken part so far for a lively and informed debate. There are as many points of view as there are contributors, but perhaps some common themes are emerging For clarification, I'd offer several points: 'Future': are we thinking about what we will be seeing in 3 years' time or 5, or 10 ? What aspect of the future are we thinking about? The history of 'film' accommodates and demonstrates swift and revolutionary changes, e.g. technological such as sound and hand-held cameras, digital etc educational: skills and training (non-) commercial structures distribution systems and platforms creating new markets, niches, tastes, (sub)genres etc There is no reason to assume that the pace of change has stopped or is slowing, what will we see next? How are we defining 'film' ? Who will be making 'films' and what will they be making? What will 'making' mean? For instance, will the market in moving image be much more domina...

Saul Alinsky's 1971 book, Rules for Radicals has been cited recently as an influential source for David Cameron's campaign for a Big Society. The main themes are the importance of citizens as participants and opportunities for re-engagement and re-empowerment. If you're already questioning why the Conservative manifesto employed a guiding quotation from that book, you're not alone. One alarmed commentators was Gerald Warner, writing in the Daily Telegraph on April Fools' day 2010: "David Cameron's Big Society is a grotesque fantasy inspired by leftist subversive Saul Alinsky" "Yet the Conservative Party blurts out this admission in the launch document of Big Society. There is a pedantic debate over whether Alinsky was technically a Marxist, or by-passed Marx as old-hat. What is beyond question is his project to overthrow capitalist society and to do so through infiltration of political parties, institutions and, above all, by the use of “communi...

  Making a film is an exciting project for any organisation, but what is involved is often poorly understood. But don’t be put off, it’s just a case of being clear about what you want to do at the outset. A community film is a great way to bring people together because film-making requires a collaborative approach and a wide range of skills. The first point to consider is whether the priority is process or product . A process led approach values inclusion, participation and engagement of the (initially untrained) target group(s). This approach values learning skills and everyone enjoying taking part A product-led film leaves most of the work to a commercial company and the focus will be on a highly-finished glossy product. Stakeholders will be consulted, but most significant roles will be undertaken by staff who are very experienced and highly trained. Some people would argue that the process and product distinction is not as clearcut as it first appears; but thi...

Time to Fix the Environment: Manchester shows that Celebrity and Community is not a Toxic Mixture Celebrity and Community are much-abused words. The darker (or should we say glitzy?) face of celebrity is greedy, ego-centric people and their failing relationships; their multiple addictions; their constant see-saw between the need for high visibility and a hard-won private life. Occasionally, a token charity is endorsed, or a baby adopted – and that provides the living proof of the beating human heart. For many people of modest means there is an objection to the cult of celebrity, and a system that permits awesome inequality. Is a footballer really worth a million times more than a nurse? It’s not the indvidual celebrity that we love or hate, it’s the systematic inequality that sanctions it. Perhaps we need to remember, however, that celebrity springs from celebration – coming together to share and endorse something. Pleasure not pain. The word community has its own problems. First, we...

In pure, that is to say, realistic terms, a ‘no-budget film’ is a myth. Leave no- budget-film to rich kids. And over-hyped websites. For the rest of us, having a plan , and having a budget are essentials, not just media hype. I’m tired of reading no-budget sites that begin the words  ‘whether your budget is $2000 or $100,000’ – that looks to me like a budget.  It would be more accurate to speak about low -budget, non-commercial or volunteer-led film-making, rather than ‘no-budget’ film-making. Let's also admit that a film can be made for next-to-nothing if you are living in an affluent country. Let’s concede also that there are many ways to reduce costs, save money, and cut corners. Vision, versatility and sheer doggedness will get you a long way. But many of the 'costs' are simply transferred elsewhere: by borrowing equipment from a government/ community organization, or from an individual, or a private, a charity or an NGO; by shari...

Lord Puttnam in Birmingham. Screen WM Event at the Birmingham Hippodrome. 10th June 2009 It was reassuring to hear Lord Puttnam speak. What an asset he is for the industry and for those who care about film. In particular, I enjoyed his emphasis on the social role of film. It's so easy to fall in with the prophets of technological progress, innovation, and digital skills, as though these are a worthy end in themselves; as though we could eliminate poverty through digital equality and having more gadgets. (Across most of Africa 97% of the population is not online.) Lord Puttnam reminded us of need for a prior engagement with community and citizenship which might be supported by the dream of improved communications; social connection rather than fascist exclusion. Also resonant for me in his speech was the notion of global dialogues and environmental issues. He was looking to the new, younger generations to raise awareness and understanding. He appeared to be critical of the lack of a...