Collective film shot in a movie theater
Giving a voice in a creative way to the spectators of a movie theater, before the screening of a film.
I put this proposal into practice in the framework of the Feminist Film Festival of the city of Les Lilas in October 2022. I share the method here, because I perceived, in the motivation of the participants, that it brought sense, and tools, to deepen in oneself the competences to be able to work towards more equality, and this in a very playful way.
Technical principle of the workshop
This workshop lasts 30 minutes. It precedes a film session. Technically, at the bottom of the stage, a camera is connected to a computer with a good quality microphone, all connected to the projector of the movie theater. The room is in darkness. The device is highlighted by lighting. One puts something (object, written text...) under the camera, and one speaks at the same time. The people follow one another, at once, while the computer records. Once it’s done, we sit back down, and we can watch the film immediately.
Method of mediation
- When people arrive in the room, the device is plugged in and visible.
- We explain that we are going to make a film together, in half an hour.
- Very quickly, we propose to 3 people to come to make a technical test: they make move objects under the camera, speak at the same time, in improvisation during 30 seconds, then we look at the film which that produced. Everybody understood the technical principle.
- The next step is to make people feel confident so that they want to participate. The film will be broadcast on the city’s web platform, which means that it has a purpose: people will see it and will be enriched by it. This positions this workshop as a challenge, as an empowerment. Paradoxically, this is what creates motivation, because it makes sense.
- We suggest that they either put an object in front of the camera, to which we will give a voice: a hair clip that has been discriminated against, for example, or that they take a sheet of paper, on which they write a word, a text, a theme, which they will deepen through their voice. I took the example of “Wages”, with someone who shares his knowledge on wage inequalities.
- Then, we invite people to come downstage, and start getting ready.
- During this time, I go around the room, to make a direct connection with the people who did not come. They are under no obligation, of course, I tell them again, but it is completely open to their participation. This time is very important, you have to give people time for the desire to mature within them. You should not be in a hurry or anxious at this moment if there are not enough participants. Because, in the end, a lot of people end up standing up, of their own accord.
- Everyone is there, getting ready. We tell the people to line up, and that the shooting will be done in one go, one after the other, in sequence, so that we have no right to make mistakes, and that we have to go on quickly, so that there is no dead time.
- The shooting is done, it always goes well.
- Then the people sit down. We watch the film. Each time, I am impressed by the quality and the importance of what the people have shared.
- Finally, we look for the title of the film together. Then I tell people that during their session I will put the film online, so that they can find it on the web platform when they leave.
You can watch here two films made with this method, on October 12 and 15, 2022. You can also watch them on the website La fabrique numérique aux Lilas.
Technical details
Technically, the device is quite light. Each tool has been carefully chosen, and tested for several years, before being used in public.
- I use an IPEVO VZ-R camera.
- I use a Fifine K670 USB microphone.
- I use the free OBS Studio software.
- I use battery powered LED lighting panels.
- And I use a laptop dedicated to the workshop use (so that the screen is not “polluted” by the personal universe of the owner of the computer).
Equality is not won!
A collective movie (3’12s, 2022).
- Fragments of lives (MPEG4)
- Equality is not won! (MPEG4)
The practice of feminism seems to me to be an essential stake in the cultural actions, because the awareness of the systems of domination allows to go towards more equality, therefore to contribute to the democracy. The inequality between women and men is for me a cornerstone of the dominations that harm everyone.
But how to “put feminism into practice” concretely in public proposals? How can cultural actions, whatever their field of implementation (artistic, social, educational, professional...), arouse inner movements towards more respect of human rights? It is not a question of stating a normative feminist discourse, but of putting into practice an equality in the ways of acting. This is much more delicate and delicate to do than one might think, because it involves questioning one’s own unconscious functioning.
I share here some resources, partial, from my own pathways, practices and questionings: proposals and stories of cultural actions, working methods, methods of artistic creation and more conceptual or biographical reflections.
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Domination on Display: An Ethnological Analysis of the 51st César Ceremony
Eight years after Blanche Gardin, six years after Adèle Haenel, nothing has changed. The system has even strengthened itself.
The César ceremony is a ritual. Not an artistic ritual, but a social one, whose analysis reveals the mechanisms of domination at work in the (…) -
Patriarchal feminism
When emancipation can reproduce patterns of domination.
Surprisingly, certain forms of struggle against patriarchy can unintentionally reinforce the very structures they seek to combat, particularly (…) -
On systems of domination in the film industry
The reasons for the violence are not what you might think.
The film industry is built on deeply entrenched systems of domination. These hierarchical mechanisms legitimize violence, including sexist (…) -
Workshop immersive techniques for creating an exhibition
An account of a method for constructing a point of view and an exhibition.
Students in the Master 2 Audiovisual and Digital Media (AVMN) program at Grenoble University were asked to organize an exhibition on the theme of (…) -
A definition of feminism
A thought movement in dialogues.
Here is my definition of feminism, from my place as a man: it is for me a movement of thought and action for equal rights between women and men, (…) -
Podcast: “For a democratic and feminist pedagogy”
Dialogue between Noémie Rubat du Mérac and Benoît Labourdette on June 25, 2022.
Overview of the fundamentals of the pedagogical actions conceived and carried out by Benoît Labourdette, linked to the deconstruction of systems (…) -
Collective film shot in a movie theater
Creative participation method.
Giving a voice in a creative way to the spectators of a movie theater, before the screening of a film.I put this proposal into practice in the (…) -
Equality is not won!
A collective film (3’12s, 2022).
An intergenerational film to become more aware, and more equipped, to defend equality. -
Fragments of lives
A collective movie (3’20s, 2022).
By sharing all our views, even the most intimate ones, we become stronger! -
Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes
A collective film supervised by Benoît Labourdette (2’40s, 2021).
Collective empathy exercise. -
Women’s voices
Immersive digital device, designed by Manon Gady and Maïa Hoog.
Immersion in feminist demonstrations, in the word of women.Device conceived and realized by Manon Gady and Maïa Hoog, students of the class of (…) -
Writing workshop in inclusive language
Literary game.
Literary writing game in inclusive language, which can be offered even for a few minutes, in all types of settings and for all ages.Inclusive (…) -
Feminist Contemplation
Participatory art installation.
Words projected on the walls transform a simple place into a space that invites an intimate thought of feminism.Installation realized in (…) -
The feminine neutral
Speaking method.
Count the number of people present, and if there is a majority of women, suggest the game of using the “feminine neuter”: “all of us” instead of (…) -
In front of our eyes
Collective film (3’10s, 2021).
Behind every object, the patriarchyIt is a chain, a sequence shot: each person films an object and gives it life, through the voice, putting (…) -
Gisèle Halimi Feminist Film Festival - Ville des Lilas: “Female gaze” workshop
Film creation workshop, to decode the images.
Male gaze ? Female gaze? What is the difference? How do images place us in positions of domination or submission? In the lobby of the Garde-Chasse (…) -
What kind of world do we want?
A film by Benoît Labourdette (0’54s, muet, 2020).
Bibliography in 2020 for the emancipation of women and men. -
Audiovisual workshops to combat gender stereotypes
Methods for audiovisual creativity.
Thought-provoking ideas and proposals for audiovisual workshop concepts for nuanced and useful actions, with the aim of building critical thinking (…) -
Sexuality #01
A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’28s, 2020).
Sexuality, that intimate space that we experience as natural and spontaneous, is in fact largely constructed by our culture. For more sexual (…) -
Domination
Un film de Benoît Labourdette (1’26s, muet, 2017).
Rebattre les cartes des systèmes de domination.
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The Périfééries project’s heritage council of influence Facilitating collective intelligence in a short space of time.
As part of Saint-Denis’s bid to become European Capital of Culture 2028, I led a collective intelligence session to collect proposals on the (…) -
Man Calligrams
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Fragments of lives A collective movie (3’20s, 2022).
By sharing all our views, even the most intimate ones, we become stronger! -
The feminine neutral Speaking method.
Count the number of people present, and if there is a majority of women, suggest the game of using the “feminine neuter”: “all of us” instead of (…) -
Writing workshop in inclusive language Literary game.
Literary writing game in inclusive language, which can be offered even for a few minutes, in all types of settings and for all ages.Inclusive (…)
