Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window

With the rapid emergence of new digital technologies and social media platforms, documentary filmmaking is undergoing significant shifts globally and the works of Canada’s NFB Interactive program are at the forefront of innovation in the international sphere. By experimenting with new forms, Katerin...

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Main Author: Siobhan O’Flynn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2014-02-01
Series:Revue LISA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5703
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author Siobhan O’Flynn
author_facet Siobhan O’Flynn
author_sort Siobhan O’Flynn
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description With the rapid emergence of new digital technologies and social media platforms, documentary filmmaking is undergoing significant shifts globally and the works of Canada’s NFB Interactive program are at the forefront of innovation in the international sphere. By experimenting with new forms, Katerina Cizek’s interactive documentaries, Filmmaker-In-Residence, and the multi-year, many-media project Highrise have revitalized the participatory production process pioneered in the 1970s by the NFB, using “Interventionist Media” to empower marginalized communities and effect social change. In positioning traditional documentary subjects as collaborators, Cizek’s work challenges existing social models and dominant or media representations of at-risk and low-income communities, creating platforms for individuals to tell their stories as counters to official constructions of these often underrepresented neighbourhoods. In doing so, Cizek’s interactive documentaries lay a claim to what David Harvey has termed “the rights to the city” of all inhabitants. And although the use of digital technologies raises questions as to access and equity in the digital divide, her projects address this tension directly often working with government and community members to effect change in urban policy and planning. This essay examines how these works rewrite History within the context of the Social Web as an ongoing participatory narrative.
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spelling doaj-art-9eba45a9e9bb4611a0e682752803a9732025-01-06T09:03:17ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532014-02-0112110.4000/lisa.5703Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My WindowSiobhan O’FlynnWith the rapid emergence of new digital technologies and social media platforms, documentary filmmaking is undergoing significant shifts globally and the works of Canada’s NFB Interactive program are at the forefront of innovation in the international sphere. By experimenting with new forms, Katerina Cizek’s interactive documentaries, Filmmaker-In-Residence, and the multi-year, many-media project Highrise have revitalized the participatory production process pioneered in the 1970s by the NFB, using “Interventionist Media” to empower marginalized communities and effect social change. In positioning traditional documentary subjects as collaborators, Cizek’s work challenges existing social models and dominant or media representations of at-risk and low-income communities, creating platforms for individuals to tell their stories as counters to official constructions of these often underrepresented neighbourhoods. In doing so, Cizek’s interactive documentaries lay a claim to what David Harvey has termed “the rights to the city” of all inhabitants. And although the use of digital technologies raises questions as to access and equity in the digital divide, her projects address this tension directly often working with government and community members to effect change in urban policy and planning. This essay examines how these works rewrite History within the context of the Social Web as an ongoing participatory narrative.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5703CanadadocumentarypsychogeographyInternetcommunity based activismNational Film Board of Canada (NFB)
spellingShingle Siobhan O’Flynn
Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window
Revue LISA
Canada
documentary
psychogeography
Internet
community based activism
National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
title Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window
title_full Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window
title_fullStr Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window
title_full_unstemmed Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window
title_short Psychogeography as Social Activism in Katerina Cizek’s Digital Documentaries Highrise, The 1000th Tower and Out My Window
title_sort psychogeography as social activism in katerina cizek s digital documentaries highrise the 1000th tower and out my window
topic Canada
documentary
psychogeography
Internet
community based activism
National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5703
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