Ways of Knowing Documentary Premieres at the Hyde Park Picture House

In 2023/24, I participated in the “Ways of Knowing: Developing Research Cultures of Resistance” project. This project was funded by Research England’s Enhancing Research Culture (ERC) fund, as part of the Leeds University's ERC Open Call 2023-24.

The project brought together academic researchers and creative practitioners to build a community of enquiry looking at gender, crime and protest in different national contexts and through different disciplinary lenses. It brought academic expertise in protest and the interwar period into dialogue with modern criminological research and creative practice in two in-person workshops, which allowed for experimentation with transdisciplinary and multi-modal research methods.

Shaped and documented by filmmaker Charlotte Bill, the group engaged in activities designed to overcome hierarchies and get the group to bond. We filmed three scenes which had been developed in advance between participants. The scenes showed "Where I do my research" and "How I embody my research". We used props, costumes, and locations around the university to tell the story. Costumes were made and designed by Dr Lindsey Holmes, the scenes were directed by Charlotte Bill.

The creative documentary premiered at the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds on 17 May 2024. After the screening, we held a Q&A session with the audience. Such an exciting conversation about the power of community and creativity in activist research!