Films

I received an MA in Visual Anthropology in 2010, and have been making films since the early 2000s. I use visual and sensorial methods including but not limited to film in my research, primarily using participatory and collaborative techniques. The films encompass a range of styles and content including documentary, agit-prop, and experimental forms.

Poem film: Motion.Stop.

Reflections on sharing postcards with colleagues within the Global Gender and Cultures of Equality project (GlobalGRACE, 2017-2022), in the context of a global pandemic and an abrupt funding cut. Motion. Stop.was made as the team awaited news about the future of the project. It is a video poem about the connecting threads that form through transnational collaboration, originally published in entanglements (4)2: 4-9.

Experimental doc: At Home in the Village?

How can representations of community spaces as ‘safe’ and ‘welcoming’ obscure complex realities of exclusion? This experimental short explores a reality of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers’ experiences in the USA, and ambivalences towards the “gaybourhood”. Read more about the project at Refugee Hosts.

Documentary short: Shut Down Yarl’s Wood

A short documentary about the ongoing protests to shut down Yarl’s Wood immigration detention center, organised by people held in detention and campaign groups including Movement for Freedom, Women Asylum Seekers Together, and Sisters Uncut. Filmed on Saturday August 9, 2015 and published by Red Pepper.

Experimental: Why Does This Happen?

A video mash-up made in response to the killing of 17 Afghan civilians by a US soldier on March 10, 2012 and the media coverage it provoked.

Winner: Best Super Short Film, Futures of Visual Anthropology Conference, Temple University, 2014.

Documentary short: Occupy The Vote

D.C. residents pay taxes to the government but do no have the right to decide how that money is spent. Representatives from other states decide for them. 600,000 people are disenfranchised. Protesters say: enough is enough.

Documentary: Shared Histories (trailer)

Trailer for the 20 minute film recording the Trans Resource and Empowerment Centre’s “Shared Histories” project, designed to explore the perspectives and histories of LGB+T people living in the Northwest of England.

Experimental: Homoelectric: What Pleasures Lie Within

Experimental, immersive clip made about HomoElectric, Manchester’s iconic club night for “homos, heteros, lesbos and don’t knows.”

Experimental: A Place to be Myself

Made in collaboration with We Need More Than This To Live, run by Queer Up North festival, bringing lesbian-identified asylum seekers together to share and create stories of experience. This film emerged from six theatre/ art/ music and storytelling workshops.

Documentary: Still Life

Made for my MA thesis in Visual Anthropology, and with the collaboration of Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST), this 27 minute documentary reveals how women seeking asylum in the UK get by and build solidarity, despite punitive immigration policies.

Experimental short: Coffee

A story in sixty seconds and an experiment in style and lighting.

Poem film: Manchester

Poem written and performed by Manchester-based Dominic Berry. Made for the Beautiful North BBC film competition.

Ethnographic experiment: Memory, Movement and Manchester United

An exploration of football fandom and the affective process experienced by supporters traveling to watch their team play. Illustrated with photos taken on their journeys to Old Trafford.

Promo: Welcome to your Union!

A lighthearted video introducing Manchester University Student’s Union, shown to new students in September 2009 and broadcast on screens across campus during the 09/10 year.