‘In Dialogue’ – OHS/IHR on Oral Histories in Film and Video: The Lens Doesn’t Lie

In this tenth edition of the In Dialogue series, first established in 2022, our guest speakers Danaé Wellington and Milton Brown will be reflecting on  the use of oral history in Film and Video.  This will be followed by a discussion led by Juanita Cox for the OHS and opened to the audience. 

Using video to capture people’s memories and stories of lived experience has become a regular feature of many oral history projects in community settings. Funding bodies seem to like the approach: it shares findings with a wider audience and provides digital assets that may be preserved. For community members, particularly from diverse backgrounds, being able to see and hear someone sharing their personal histories brings more than visibility and a way to redress being marginalised or underrepresented in historical records. Coming together to watch is an act of affirmation and solidarity.

Perhaps it is easier to sit to watch together than listen collectively, a process that has its own traditions and assumptions. The event itself may became a point of reference, memory-making rooted in being there: an action that shows respect for the individuals taking part in the video and their families; a vindication; a celebration of tenacity and endeavour. However, oral history’s roots pre-date modern video technologies and the capacity to record on different camera devices and audio approaches may seem preferable in academic studies. 

This discussion provides an opportunity to explore the strengths and the challenges of working with video; thinking about transferable skills and approaches, anonymity, best practice for interviewing and interviewees’ well-being, longer-term implications, issues of archiving and access, describing and transcribing into written format, and of course, whether stories told by the camera always tell the truth. We do hope that you will join us for what promises to be a stimulating and timely discussion.

All welcome

This event is free to attend, but booking is required. To book a place, go to https://www.history.ac.uk/events/dialogue-ohsihr-oral-histories-film-and-video-lens-doesnt-lie

Chair: Heather Norris Nicholson, Oral History Society

Discussant: Juanita Cox, Institute of Historical Research

Speakers: Danaé Wellington, Sheffield Poet Laureate & Founder and Cultural Producer at Odd Child Productions, and Dr Milton Brown, Founder & CEO of Kirklees Local TV.

About the speakers

Heather Norris Nicholson is a member of Oral History’s editorial team and currently an independent writer and researcher. She has worked extensively with visual and oral sources to create more inclusive historical understanding in and beyond Britain. Her interests in archival underrepresentation, memory and identity have contributed to recent oral history-related projects with West Yorkshire’s African Caribbean descent communities. 

Juanita Cox is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Studies.  She is currently working on a three-year AHRC-funded oral history project, ‘The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context’, and is also a trustee on the board of the OHS. (hyperlink: The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context | Institute of Historical Research (history.ac.uk)

Danaé Wellington is a Jamaican-British poet and multi-disciplinary artist based in Sheffield.  She is the founder of Odd Child Productions, a Black and neurodiverse-led events and production company. Danaé is the current Sheffield Poet Laureate (2022-2024) and has been published in several anthologies including Halfway Smile and Surfing the Twilight (Hive 2018/2019) and has written for Black Ballad UK and is featured in the anthology (October 2023) Spit Out The Myth: Three Sheffield Poets alongside Silé Sibanda and Warda and published by Poetry Business in partnership with Off the Shelf. She is an alumnus of the Hive South Yorkshire network and Obsidian Foundation (2023) and has performed at a number of festivals including Ted Hughes Poetry Festival, Tramlines, Sheaf Poetry Festival, and Off the Shelf. Her work foregrounds Jamaican folk culture, spirituality from an African-Caribbean perspective, and the ways in which race, gender, and liberation intersects in the 21st century.  A former neo-soul vocalist, Danaé has featured on records several artists including Maurice Fulton and Tuesday Born and shared stages with Linton Kwesi-Johnson, Warda Yassin, and Moor Mother. In 2021 she released her debut LP Good Fruit produced by Maurice Fulton and produced her first documentary-film ‘Passing the Baton: The Legacy of the Windrush Pioneers’ which documents the impact of the Windrush Generation on Sheffield’s cultural landscape. Her second short film Who We Were; Who We Became filmed by Darshan Gajjar was premiered as part of Off The Shelf Festival 2023 and will be screening at the Windrush Caribbean Film Festival 2024 and the 11th International Video Poetry Film Festival 2024 in Athens, Greece. 

Dr Milton Brown is the founder, member, and current CEO of Kirklees Local TV (https://kirkleeslocaltv.com(Opens in new window)), established in 2012. He leads the organisation’s objectives to increase civic engagement, continuously improve KLTV’s financial independence, pursue inclusion, celebrate diversity, and proactively contribute to social justice.   His documentary filmmaking started in 2012 and covers various ethnicities and social and cultural challenges faced by diverse groups in England. These films include:

He is a decorated veteran who served in the Royal Air Force for nine years between 1980 and 1989 and is qualified Psycho-analytical Organisational Development Consultant with 35 years of experience.

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Date
20 Jun 2024
Expired!
Time
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

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