Stories of Place
11 Micro Documentaries about Place, Story, and Community.
Participants of the first Stories of Place workshop.
The Stories of Place films were created during a short series of intimate workshops in which community participants experienced the process of documentary filmmaking through telling a story of their own.
With the support of experienced documentary filmmakers, eleven participants created 3-4-minute films about a place in their neighbourhood that holds meaning for them. These documentaries follow the digital storytelling mode of creation where the story and voice of the storyteller takes center stage, and is then supported by images and sound. Sometimes these stories centered on a green space of note, other times a journey, and in one instance an otherwise unremarkable, yet remarkable parking lot.
Title card from Amber Towle’s story.
The finished films were screened as part of the 2021 Guelph Film Festival and were shared online as part of a special exhibition at the Guelph Civic Museum in March 2022, Moving Histories, Neighbourhood Mysteries.
This project was built on the belief that:
Stories are the essence of human societies
Human beings understand themselves through stories.
Everyone should have the resources and support they need to tell their story.
This project offered an accessible and unique experience as well as opportunity to produce artistic content, celebrate the city through many unique sets of eyes, and participate in a conversation about urban life, history, social contexts, lived experiences, and the way cities shift and change over time.
Title card from Carlomagno Alvarado’s story.
This project was created by the Guelph Film Festival, with Kavya Yoganathan, Dustin Seabrook, and Artistic Director Kimber Sider facilitating the workshops and supporting the storytellers to bring each of their visions to the screen.
Stories of Place is part of a larger, ongoing GFF initiative called Hidden Histories. Hidden Histories is an umbrella project focused on supporting for local community members to tell their stories and help all Guelphites rediscover their city and the people who call it home.
This project is presented by the Guelph Film Festival and the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition and supported by The Guelph Community Foundation: Musagetes Fund.
Title card from Alex Munroe’s story.