Over the past few weeks, partly due to my move from Greece, I have taken time and distance from the project (although I gathered some first reflections when I was in Lesvos).
The video\film is not finished, although the screening and the feedbacks of the participants was a crucial moment for me that I would like to reflect on (perhaps in the written paper).
Some elements to be added to the film we already discussed with Eleni and Maggi during the days in Lesvos.
They would involve the addition of texts and reflections written by us which would then introduce elements of autoethnography and would also be a way of introducing the three parts into which the video would be divided.
The division into three parts turned out to be the way we chose to divide the material (like small chapters), given the short time we had to gather material, construct a narrative and to give a context to the subject(s) treated.
The first part would include some introductory questions, which are the ones that led us to approach these topics (such as living in small, isolated places), the second part specifically on living on an island and the relationship to the sea, and the third part on inhabiting a body through the relationship to dance.
I know that for many it was unclear what the subject and topics were, so the addition of these texts (through a voice off), before introducing the people we interviewed, would help us to be clearer and build a stronger theoretical framework.
Dear Annagrazia, I look forward to seeing the next version of your film. I think all of your reflections sound like you are moving in a productive direction. I just had one suggestion or idea to contemplate. I was thinking, what if you actually added to the beginning or end of the film some of the reflections gathered in that final encounter. What if you presented the film in such a way that started or ended saying “this film was made understanding that after 10 days we were going to show it to the protagonists in an intimate setting in an outside evening film screening”… and then at the end you shared some of the reflections that people shared with you, or some descriptions/reflections of what that process of sharing back was like for you. I think one of the most valuable things that happened in Lesvos was that screening for you all, so it just strikes me as potentially a wonderful way of emphasizing dialogic research processes by actually including that event in the film itself. Just something to think about! Good luck!
Dear Jennie,
Thank you for your reply, it gave me some inspiration and ideas. I think I will include especially at the beginning some reflections that came out of the projection, as I also filmed the white sheet the day after.
If you also have any recommendations for bibliography, I would be very happy to have them!
Dear Anna, Maggi, and Eleni,
I am really looking forward to watching a new cut of the film and I couldn’t agree more with Jennie’s suggestion on including the screening encounter in your narrative! I believe that the rather loose connection of the three parts is not a problem at all in watching and appreciating the film; it rather creates a relaxed atmosphere of approaching a cultural setting and a socĪ¹al life for the first time and trying to pay attention to it and follow its pace and focal points. I would also love to see more autoethnography in your piece, the three different perspectives you brought to your project and the development of ideas in steps, interwoven with the three main issues you touch upon. Since Maggi stayed only for a week, she had a different point of view on events and because Eleni spoke Greek as her maternal language and has lived in small islands for many years, she could understand things the other two could not get. I would love to see the three personalities, perspectives and sensitivities involved to be stressed more and be woven into the fabric of the subsequent steps of the encounters you had with members of the community of Kalloni, in terms of vocal, bodily and emotional communications.
Dear Panos,
Thank you so much for your comment. We will definitely follow your precious suggestion!