Abstract:

Warwick Film Festival 2023 was organised by a team of University of Warwick’s students and staff to celebrate and encourage film production by Warwick University’s community.

The festival consisted of two project streams:
1. Student-led curation of 15 short film screenings 28th June 2023, Warwick Arts Centre Cinema.
2. A series of student-organised, expert-led workshops to educate students, staff, and the wider Warwick community in the skills needed to create a short film.

The submissions were asked to address the theme ‘belonging’.

A steering group was formed and developed in an organic way, responding to the needs of the project development and individual availability. Meetings were held every two weeks from 18th October 2022 with an ever-widening pool of stakeholders from across Warwick University’s wider community. Representation was present from Warwick’s Institute of Engagement, Creative Futures, Regional Development, Student Experience Division, Warwick Awards, Warwick Arts Centre, several academic departments, current students, and alumni, connected TV production companies, VR companies, local theatre companies and branding businesses. These stakeholders informed the structure, intent and content of the festival.

The theme ‘Belonging’ was agreed upon by the steering group. Four foundational areas to foster a sense of Belonging are connection, inclusion, support and autonomy (Blake, S., Capper, G., & Jackson, A., 2022).

The Films:
Connection: This theme came through from nearly all of the films submitted. Connection, or lack of it, seems an essential element of all stories told.
Inclusion: Many of the films offered up a negative definition of belonging, focusing on areas of exclusion, uncertainty, and identity. To give voice to the community is innately inclusive.
Support: This was portrayed by negative definition. Identity and independence seemed a stronger theme in the films. A distinction between possession and belonging was drawn.
Autonomy: This theme came through in some narratives as a structural defiance as well as an individual sense of identity. Conflict, rather than common themes was often focused on.

The Workshops:
The core team of five students developed personal and professional skills. There were over 70 applicants for the five engagement officer positions. Applicants attended an assessment centre activity where 50 students, who had written applications, completed a group task and submitted reflections. This led to credit for the Warwick Award (Tissington, P., 2023).
Connection: Creating connection was challenging due to conflicting timetables for all concerned and varying priorities. The team sourced contacts through their own networks or through introductions to Warwick’s network.
Inclusion: Staff came from different departments, academic and professional, and the engagement officers were PGR, PGT, UG, from various departments.
Support: Having the University involved meant there was practical resource and support available for the student-led team.
Autonomy: Much has been written about co-creation and its role in education. In the education/development cycle ideas of scaffolding and dynamic support were reinforced.

References:
[1] Blake, S., Capper, G., & Jackson, A. (2022). Building Belonging in Higher Education. WONKHE: WONKHE.
[2] Tissington, P. (2023). Warwick Employability and Skills. Retrieved 13/07/2023, from https://warwick.ac.uk/about/strategy/education/detail/employabilityandskills

Keywords:

Belonging, Creativity, multimedia skills, professional skills, employability.