Mediaworks is the foundational program for moving image practices in the Expressive Arts at Evergreen. This program will continue to emphasize the study of media technology and hands-on production practices along with the study of film/video history and theory. This year we have decided to take Mediaworks in a new direction. Our work as filmmakers will be placed in the service of both sustainability and justice. A number of academic programs have begun to center their inquiry on important issues facing us and our planet – climate change, environmental justice, the relationship between people and the land, the sustainability of human and natural communities – issues that are vital to our well-being and the health of the planet. How do we engage these issues as filmmakers and artists? Can our work make a difference?
Engaging media history and theory will be central to developing strategies of representation in our own work as producers of media. We will examine the history of documentary filmmaking to explore the strategies filmmakers have developed to represent “reality.” We will study non-fiction filmmaking strategies through screenings, readings, research projects, writing, and seminar discussions. One thread of our inquiry will focus on media addressing sustainability and justice – how have filmmakers placed their work in the service of sustainability, justice, and the environment? Another thread of our inquiry will address critical alternatives to mainstream media - these include autobiography, the history of experimental film and video art, and essayistic video. We will also address the politics of representation in relation to race, class, and gender. Most people agree that media has the power to educate, as well as influence attitudes and behavior. Can media artists contribute to social change? As artists, how do we enter the debates around energy, the environment, and climate change?