An academic conference with films in place of papers – and live peer review
The Ethnografilm festival is a unique event that celebrates the art of non-fiction film-making and the field of video ethnography as a way of understanding the social world.
The festival gives equal attention to all genres of academic and documentary filmmaking, and many of the films are filmed by active researchers and students.
‘We advertise that we are a documentary and academic festival, because academics make a lot of movies but don’t really have a place to send them. Or sometimes they feel as though their films are competing with people that have big budgets, and that they won’t be able to get into film festivals. What we offer is that commitment to all kinds of filmmaking, including no-budget filmmaking. Many of the great films are done on an iPhone now, and that includes some feature films.’
Wes Shrum, festival director and professor of sociology at the Louisiana State University.
Ethnografilm is also a space for films about science or with scientific content, and the 2022 festival featured a special session showing films that have resulted from the ISC-BBC Storyworks Unlocking Science collaboration, and from the Transformations to Sustainability programme.
The festival is not just about screenings. It fosters a vibrant community for filmmakers, scholars, and audiences to connect. Discussions, Q&A sessions, and receptions create a space to exchange ideas, discuss the films’ themes, and celebrate the power of documentary filmmaking.
The festival takes place annually in Paris. The ISC is a long-standing partner of the Ethnografilm festival, and helps to support local organization.
To submit an entry to Ethnografilm, consult the submission guidelines and deadlines on the official website of the festival.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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