One of the projects that broke new ground for movements in participatory & social-change film-making was the Challenge for Change program. Created by the Canadian National Film Board in 1967, it ran until 1980 and resulted in over 140 films being made as collaborations between filmmakers and Canadian communities. The Challenge for Change program was designed to give voice to the “voiceless”, seeking to transfer control processes of filmmaking from professional filmmakers to community members, so that ordinary Canadians in underrepresented communities could tell their own stories on screen.
The most famous films from the project are from Fogo Island, and were a collaboration between academics, filmmakers and community members. The processes and learning from the Fogo Island films shaped the Challenge for Change methodology – including putting a strong focus on using the process of collaborative film making, and dissemination of resulting films, to open up dialogue between community members and policy makers about issues of importance to the community. A focus on high production value was less important than a deeply participatory approach.
A scene from The Children of Fogo Island, which the National Film Board produced on the island in the 1960s and 1970s. (NFB)
Oft cited as a ground-breaking project Challenge for Change has had strong influence on models of particpatory media making in the 40 years since the program began. A new collection of essays about the project is scheduled for publication by McGill University Press in 2010.
The Canadian Film Board, after many years hiatus, decided to revisit some of the ideas inherent in the Challenge for Change program and make use of the digital revolution. In 2006 began a pilot program called Filmmaker-in-Residence. The Filmmaker-in-Residence pilot program placed filmmaker Katerina Cizek in a Toronto Hospital for several years to make participatory media. The resulting project included participatory documentaries in and around the hospital, a participatory photo-blogging project and a film about outreach work in Africa by a doctor in the hospital. The Filmmaker in Residence program has made a very stylish, content filled (and award winning) website – what they called an on-line documentary – so rather than read my words about it go and check it out here (warning, lots to watch and read, make a cup of tea and give yourself some time to get the most out of it…).
As an accompaniment to the on-line content there is a Filmmaker-in-Residence blog which tracks the process and promotion of the project. I particularly like the manefesto for Filmmakers in Residence Katerina Cizek posted at the beginning of the project back in November 2006 – check it out here. I reckon there are some principals in her manefesto (such as spend 10% time making and 90% of your time helping to get it out in the world) reveal elements of the realities of participatory media-making that are oft forgotten in the novelty value of the making of the work, and are important to highlight when thinking critically about this kind of practice.
Round 2 of the Filmmaker-In-Residence program has now begun and its called HIGHRISE – involving participatory media making in 10 highrise blocks in 10 developing cities around the world… Again, with an almost intimidatingly slick website (ok, I admit it, its mostly envy speaking now, but I also note the uptake of digital tech has led to an increased focus on high production values, which, although seemingly avoiding compromising participatory process, is is a change from the original Challenge for Change methodology) HIGHRISE is another project worth keeping an eye on.
[...] the principles which gave way to National Film Board Canada’s 1967 Challenge for Change program, fostering cross-discipline collaborations and targeted dissemation of content to influence [...]
[...] (Check out previous posts on interesting work from the Canadian National Film Board here) [...]