Students working on a multi-year Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) project have used the power of documentary filmmaking to explore local community members’ experiences of racism, as well as positive stories around diversity and community harmony.
The PACE project, Unified Ryde, explored the power of community filmmaking for raising awareness about racism and cultural diversity and promoting cultural harmony.
It involved the Salvation Army, the City of Ryde Council and students undertaking PACE units from across the university’s faculties, from psychology, to film, sociology and marketing.
The film, which was shown at TEDXMacquarie University in September 2015, includes vox pop interviews with members of the community of Ryde, and extended interviews with leaders in the community including council members, educators and cultural leaders. It highlights the effectiveness of community filmmaking in starting discussions around racism and cultural harmony and promoting positive change within a community.
Students involved believe there is scope to expand on this project in similar filmmaking projects in the future, by giving some of the people interviewed the opportunity to further discuss their experiences in a more comfortable setting.
“This would allow personal stories more scope, which would give rise to more emotion and more empathy within the audience, in the hopes that it would create awareness of the issue in a more powerful and cathartic way,” the students say.