From personal history to oral testimony documentary

Workshop Title: From Personal History to Oral Testimony Documentary

Animator: Vassilis Loules, director

Workshop Days: Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 October 2019

Duration: 8 hours

Hours: 17:00 – 21:00

It is addressed to a group of: 10 to 15 people

Venue: Cultural Center of Chania

Laboratory Description:

The Laboratory is experiential and has as its subject:

-oral testimony as the basic element for the creation of a contemporary Historical, Anthropological or Ethnographic documentary

-the special characteristics and power of oral history in film documentary

-some film applications in Education that are based on oral testimony and concern issues of History.

Emphasis is placed on "Filming oral history" and especially on the "Relationship of the director / researcher with the person who deposits experiences or tells stories in front of the cinematic lens".

IT IS ADDRESSED to teachers of all levels and specializations, to graduates and students of Social Sciences and Humanities (History, Social Anthropology, Ethnography, Psychology, Folklore, Archaeology, etc.), to students and professionals of cinema and theatre (directors, actors, technicians), to photographers, to those who deal with oral history, to storytellers and stories, as well as to people who want to get to know the contemporary anthropocentric documentary.

In order to attend the Workshop, no previous professional experience in the field of cinema is required. It only takes love for cinema and oral history, patience and curiosity.

The ANTHROPOCENTRIC DOCUMENTARY is perhaps the most up-and-coming kind of cinema in the world, which gives the floor to the unsung heroes of life, to ordinary people or illuminates the unseen side of the most prominent. Through their own experiential narratives, films can be made full of truth, emotion and humor, which move, entertain, educate while at the same time they trace everyday life, society, nature, history, etc.

Some QUESTIONS that will concern us:

— How do we help ordinary people to stand without fear in front of the camera and share with us their "trivial" personal stories honestly and immediacy?

— How do we film testimonies, narratives, fairy tales in a lively and attractive way? What are the secrets of this art?

— How can the personal testimony we record be scientifically reliable on the one hand and usable for research or artistic purposes on the other?

— How can we make anthropocentric documentary a valuable tool of the history lesson (and not only!) in education?

— How can we see, record or even teach the "great" History through the "small", personal stories of people?

— The observation of the "outside" world and empathy.

With film SCREENINGS and EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES we will begin to detect the above questions.

The Workshop will draw on the experience of the director Vassilis Loules not only from teaching in the previous Chinese Workshops of Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities or in the summer schools (Vovousa, Monodendri, Pelion) but also the one he acquired by touring 40 well-known Universities of the USA and Canada, screening his films and discussing with the audience.

Participants will get to know methodological tools useful in their educational, research or artistic activities, while another key OBJECTIVE of the Workshop is the cultivation of another look on History and the experiences of the people who are its carriers.

Prerequisites for effective participation in the Laboratory

In order for our collaboration to be creative, it is advisable for those who are interested in taking part in the Workshop to do the following:

a) Have studied the present text.

b) To have been prepared for the way of approaching the subject having seen the links of the films in the Biographical animator, in the adjacent column.

c) To have with them a laptop, camera and camcorder (those who have one). Along with all peripherals (batteries, cables, cards, adapters, etc.) for loading, unloading materials to and from the computer.

d) Particularly welcome are those who have image and video editing programs installed on their computer (premiere, movie maker or their equivalents) and know how to handle them.

NOTE: It is not necessary for everyone to have all the above (c) and (d), but if you tell us what you can have with you we will take care of the rest so that everything goes well!