Another kind of opportunity: film-making education in the context of displacement

Abstract

Art group Another Kind of Girl Collective offers a case study of what teaching practical film-making outside formal education settings can look like, by offering film-making and photography workshops to young women around the world, including to young Syrian women living as refugees in Jordan. Another Kind of Girl Collective’s approach prioritises flexibility, mentorship and building trust between students and tutors. Rather than focus exclusively on the technical skills of film-making, the collective’s workshops are as much about mentorship and developing self-expression as they are about imparting the technical expertise required to operate a camera; this dual focus allows the technical to become a vehicle for the socioemotional. This article analyses Another Kind of Girl Collective’s approach to informal practical film-making education, contextualising it in how it differs from more formal, institution-based approaches, as well as how this approach compares to similar international development-focused programmes that prioritise product over process. Another Kind of Girl Collective presents a model of practical film education that not only educates a new generation of innovative film-makers, but also speaks to the socioemotional needs of students living as refugees.

Keywords

• refugee
• international development
• art/occupational therapy
• Syria
• female film-makers