Rhizomatic Riots:A Mutable Film Workshop

The aim of the workshop is to indulge in expansive models of filmmaking that take from the oral traditions; to create work that strives for anti-Western hierarchies of film and opts for an anti-colonial cinema. In a tangible sense this entails a filmmaking that is more focused on the process over the product, focuses on community, prefers experimentation and play, is mutable, and that explodes outside of just the screen to create tangible change.
Starting off each class we will play a variety of games, happenings and activities that take us away from thinking about film in the traditional sense - but at the same time will guide the students to think about "playing" and tapping into intuition. These activities could range from hide and seek to card games to exquisite corpse shooting with Super 8 - and are dependent on the class interests. We will also use Sylvia Wynter's essay Rethinking Aesthetics: Notes Towards A Deciphering Practice as a guide for why so called "experimental" or nontraditional films can be beneficial to not only disenfranchised, minority communities but for all of us who are striving for some sort of shift. A light reading of this, plus a diverse array of short anti-colonial films will be integral in expanding what we can do in the space.
The culmination of crux of the class will see each student bring an object, photo, heirloom, archive, or anything else tangible that they have a relation/story with. Each student will present these orally to the group - telling us its (and their) story. Then based/reflecting on the item, reading, viewings and a communal workshopping with the classroom, each student will make a personal film. We will be left with these films that unravel the relation between our personal and communal tendencies, allowing us to discuss the role that film can have in community building and a cultural creolization.