Ethnographic Film Making Workshop

It's 5 o'clock in the morning. It's the end of April and therefore still dark. The sun won't rise for another hour. We arrive one after the other in a parking lot near our Department of Political Science and greet each other sleepily and excitedly at the same time. Today we are shooting our first documentary film clip. We are researchers from different countries who are doing a PhD at the DPSP at the University of Catania, Rosario Sapienza, our professor Mara Benadusi and Parsifal Reperato. Parsifal had explained to us in 5 dense workshop days over the last few weeks how it is possible to make a documentary film based on our research. Today we are to put everything we have learned into practice in a short film about a farmer's experience of the energy transition in the region. 

Parsifal Reperato is an anthropologist, filmmaker, producer and journalist working in Italy, Vietnam and many other countries. He is the founder of  ‘Antropica’ a ‘cinema production company’ (https://www.antropica.org/it/). Furthermore his work stands out not only because of the particularly sensitive perspective in his films while simultaneously addressing political issues, but also because he is committed to translating social science content to a broad public. He is also very experienced in teaching filmmaking, as he has been teaching in various formats for years, including at universities. From the very beginning, he motivated us not only to learn from his experiences and work, but also to think about the possibilities of our projects.

In the workshop on Ethnographic Film-Making as part of the C-URGE Marie Curie doctoral Network training activity at the Department  of Political and Social Sciences Parsifal showed us in just a few weeks how to develop an idea for a documentary film, plan its realization step by step and how to raise funds for possible film projects. He shared his experiences in the development of his films "Nimble Fingers" and "She" with us at every stage and quickly gave us the feeling that a lot is possible when you have a vision. That was motivating. In a second part, he led us step by step through the technical handling of the camera, the sound system and the possibilities of different uses of light. 

Thanks to the dense, attentive and at the same time empathetic introduction to the art of documentary filming in the first workshop sections, we felt ready to put what we had learned into practice in the third section. The fact that Parsifal trusted us to use his equipment gave us courage and after a few initial difficulties, the first film and sound recordings were made. Parsifal gave us tips and advice every step of the way and we quickly felt confident in our roles as camerawoman, camera assistant, sound technician, sound assistant, director and assistant director. By the end of the first day, it was already clear who enjoys which task the most.

On the last day of the workshop, the time has come. We are supposed to shoot our first movie. Domenico, one of the PhD researchers, has organized everything and we make our way to one of his research partners. After an hour's drive, the sun slowly rises. The best light of the day for a shoot, as we have learned. Once we arrive, we start to set everything up ourselves and get ready for the first shots. The sound is recorded and checked, the sun is filtered by a filter panel and the camera is readjusted depending on the lighting conditions. We work together as a team and can hardly believe it when, at the end of the day, we have actually made a shooting for our film. In just one workshop, we learned how to shoot a short film under Parsifal's guidance and grew together as a team. An experience that will not only accompany us in our research.