Postcolonial film networks

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 postcolonial forces and theories that appear, or fail, to be relevant.

We are also keen to have questions, notes, and queries. Someone ‘out there’ may know how to find the answer, or where to find it. Also don’t be afraid of being categorised as theologian or cultural theorist – remembers that we want explore connections and overlaps as well as being honest about perceived limits and boundaries.

We would be delighted to have posts which reflect the full range of world cinema and transnational film. If you have favourite directors we would love to hear what you value in their work. You might provide supporting contextual information that will help to introduce their work to new audiences and again we value work that promotes dialogue and debate.

If you have been involved in film making here is an opportunity to write about your experiences. Whether you’re a director or a runner; a scriptwriter or an actor; an editor or a sound engineer you experience will be valued. Film involves ideals, compromises, setbacks and defeats. Sometimes this situation is caused by money and resources; sometimes its poor decision-making or taking the right risks. But we can learn from our successes as much as our failures. A collectivist of communal approach is the underlying principle of a networked group. Accordingly, we celebrate posts that are considerate, creative, critical, crafted and constructive.

Finally, I’d suggest that we don’t frighten ourselves into silence by fearing the orthodoxies of postcolonial theory. Theoretical discourse is more of a willing servant rather than a brutal master!

[Subsequent posts from me will be outlining useful books and online resources; exploring topics such as community film and participatory video; reviewing world cinema; interviewing film makers and researchers; thinking about ‘film’ theory; decolonizing film]