A video run-through of the interactive documentary Obrero. Obrero ('worker') is an independent multi-platform documentary project. It tells the stories of Filipino rebuild workers temporarily migrating to Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand after the earthquake in 2011. The interactive documentary can be explored at https://www.obrerofilm.com/. Norman Zafra is a Filipino journalist-documentary maker and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland's Media and Communication Department. He has worked as producer, writer, and director of award-winning Philippine TV documentary programmes such as Reporter’s Notebook and I-Witness.
An audio documentary created by Kris Vavasour about the multitude of challenge the musicians, performers and venue owners in Lyttelton face in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes. All songs are from the 'Harbour Union' album (2011), in alphabetical order: 'Even Keel' (Lindon Puffin); 'Ghost of this Town' (Marlon Williams); 'How Lucky You Are' (Delaney Davidson & Marlon Williams); 'Human Enough' (Lindon Puffin); 'It's So Good' (Delaney Davidson); 'Little Mountain Town' (Marlon Williams); 'Rocking Bell' (Adam McGrath); 'The Waterside' (Adam McGrath).
The first full-length film documenting the lives of those affected by the Canterbury earthquakes had its premiere in Christchurch last night.
"We've got to find a way to bring young people in the city and then we'll be buzzing."
This article is a critical commentary of how political documentary embodies the traits and functions of alternative journalism. I explore this notion through Obrero (‘worker’) my independent documentary project about the labour migration of Filipino workers to Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand, after the earthquake in 2011. This article maps out the points at where the theories and practices of alternative media and documentary intersect. Analysing political documentary as a format of alternative journalism has links to the long tradition of film and video production as a tool for social critique. As a form of practice-based research, Obrero falls under the rubric of alternative journalism—able to represent the politically marginal sectors of the polity and report on issues underreported in the mainstream press. This article concludes that a distribution plan that is responsive to fragmenting audiences works best when alternative journalism no longer targets a niche but transborder audiences.
This research is a creative exploration of transmedia’s ability to offer up a model of distribution and audience engagement for political documentary. Transmedia, as is well known, is a fluid concept. It is not restricted to the activities of the entertainment industry and its principles also reverberate in the practice of political and activist documentary projects. This practice-led research draws on data derived from the production and circulation of Obrero, an independent transmedia documentary. The project explores the conditions and context of the Filipino rebuild workers who migrated to Christchurch, New Zealand after the earthquake in 2011. Obrero began as a film festival documentary that co-exists with two other new media iterations, each reaching its respective target audience: a web documentary, and a Facebook-native documentary. This study argues that relocating the documentary across new media spaces not only expands the narrative but also extends the fieldwork and investigation, forms like-minded publics, and affords the creation of an organised hub of information for researchers, academics and the general public. Treating documentary as research can represent a novel pathway to knowledge generation and the present case study, overall, provides an innovative model for future scholarship.
Sarah McMullan reviews 'When A City Falls', a documentary about the Christchurch earthquakes.
This thesis is a creative and critical exploration of how transmedia storytelling meshes with political documentary’s nature of representing social realities and goals to educate and promote social change. I explore this notion through Obrero (“worker”), my independently produced transmedia and transjournalistic documentary project that explores the conditions and context of the Filipino rebuild workers who migrated to Christchurch, New Zealand after the earthquake in 2011. While the project should appeal to New Zealanders, it is specifically targeted at an audience from the Philippines. Obrero began as a film festival documentary that co-exists with strategically refashioned Web 2.0 variants, a social network documentary and an interactive documentary (i-doc). Using data derived from the production and circulation of Obrero, I interrogate how the documentary’s variants engage with differing audiences and assess the extent to which this engagement might be effective. This thesis argues that contemporary documentary needs to re-negotiate established film aesthetics and practices to adapt in the current period of shifting technologies and fragmented audiences. Documentary’s migration to new media platforms also creates a demand for filmmakers to work with a transmedia state of mind—that is, the capacity to practise the old canons of documentary making while comfortably adjusting to new media production praxis, ethics, and aesthetics. Then Obrero itself, as the creative component of this thesis, becomes an instance of research through creative practice. It does so in two respects: adding new knowledge about the context, politics, and experiences of the Filipino workers in New Zealand; and offering up a broader model for documentary engagement, which I analyse for its efficacy in the digital age.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Ross the documentary photographer ready for the red zone. Gloucester Street".
A photograph of an outdoor photography exhibition titled, 'Thx 4 the Memories', by the Christchurch documentary photography project Place In Time.
A photograph of an outdoor photography exhibition titled, 'Thx 4 the Memories', by the Christchurch documentary photography project Place In Time.
A photograph of an outdoor photography exhibition titled, 'Thx 4 the Memories', by the Christchurch documentary photography project Place In Time.
Earthquakes, fire and terrorism have shaped the lives of Christchurch teenagers growing up during the last decade. A documentary from NZBS students.
The cartoon suggests that the Kiwi character has too much of a 'She'll be right' attitude. Refers to a 1996 documentary called 'Earthquake!' which outlined the effects of a major earthquake on Christchurch's eastern suburbs and heritage buildings. The director Grant Dixon says lives could have been saved if officials had heeded the film's warnings. (Stuff: 11 March 2011) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Kiwi director Christopher Dudman on his television documentary The Day that Changed My Life, which features those who survived in the immediate aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, 22 February 2011.
Radio New Zealand National documentary about the Canterbury earthquake, focusing on the personal experiences of those affected. Use Internet Explorer to listen to the MP3 (streaming sound Ogg Vorbis not archived)
A short video-documentary featuring four Christchurch locals who reflect on the destruction of the city's CBD, and how it has changed what they value in a city. Produced with funding from NZ on Air.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of a crowd in a shop on New Regent Street, for the launch of Whole House Reuse. The official release of the Materials Catalogue and premiere of a short documentary was part of FESTA 2013.
Gerard Smyth's acclaimed documentary about the Christchurch earthquakes is the story of people coping — for better or worse — with the huge physical and emotional toll that the quakes, and continuing aftershocks, inflicted on them, their homes and their city. It began as a home movie while the devastation of September was surveyed (with thanks given that no-one had been killed); but, as shooting of the recovery continued, the February quake compounded the destruction and claimed 182 lives (including their researcher and 16 colleagues at CTV).
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve looked at some of the methods we use to date archaeological objects found in Christchurch. This week, we’re going to look at how artefacts, documentary evidence and archaeological context can be used to … Continue reading →
Footage from the film "Draquila - Italy Trembles" at Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap!" project. "Draquila - Italy Trembles" is a documentary that examines the Berlusconi government's corruption and abuse of power during the aftermath of the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy. It was directed by Sabina Guzzanti.
Footage from the film "Draquila - Italy Trembles" at Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap!" project. "Draquila - Italy Trembles" is a documentary that examines the Berlusconi government's corruption and abuse of power during the aftermath of the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy. It was directed by Sabina Guzzanti.