Decolonising filmic experience: decentring learning across culture, community and institutions

This project will develop new networks across academia, the cultural sector and the wider public, on the subject of film audiences and experiences. Time will be spent engaging with cultural sector organisations whose work prioritises the needs and concerns of communities whose life experiences have been directly impacted through colonial heritage or neo-colonial violence. This will be achieved through two activities. The first is a collaboration with the organisers of UK Asian Film Festival and Film Africa; and the second is a workshop on decolonial strategies beyond academia.

Decolonisation is a term increasingly visible but decreasingly meaningful. When it has been used in cultural and creative settings, it seems rarely to have much connection to its actual historical meaning. This project will generate social and cultural impact by convening typically disconnected parties around a theme of shared interest. By the project’s completion, it is my aim to have developed the understanding of stakeholders in both academic and cultural settings, by providing more spaces for public engagement and incentivising future plans.
The anticipated stakeholders include creative and cultural practitioners (accessing a network with wide-ranging expertise); marginalised communities – from those who suffer a dearth of film representation, to members of refugee communities lacking the means or tools required to access participation on cultural issues; and film pedagogy (the findings could provide practical insight for wider decolonising practice).