From clowns to cowboys: Pathways students get creative for Norwich Radical Film Festival

A storyboard for a film designed by students from Pathways College for the Norwich Radical Film Festival. Photo: Submitted (Image: Archant)

Kicking off today, the Norwich Radical Film Festival is a three day event, showcasing some of the most unique work by local, national and international filmmakers.

As well as films made by professionals, amateur and community produced films will also feature, including the cumulative efforts of four students from Pathways College in Norwich, who have taken part in Counterstorytellers, the festival's Participatory Film Project.

Head of the project, UEA PhD film Candidate, Ruchika Gurung said: 'The idea was that the community could create their own stories, as opposed to following stories that are dominant in the media. These stories would then serve to challenge the dominant narratives out there and allow people to share their ideas and thoughts with an audience, that may not normally be accessible to them.'

Various workshops were conducted as part of the project, where the students were taught basic camera skills, film editing and learnt to work together as a team in order to come up with a concept for the short film.

'The result has been four stories interwoven into a ten minute film based on stories the students decided were special enough to be filmed. So, we've got one bit that focuses on an everyday class setting, one on a bad clown, another on cowboys and the final film on super heroines. It has been quite an experience and we did have difficulties in negotiating stories and managing time,' said Miss Gurung.

As well as the students' film, a short video called Moving Portraits which was created by members of The Chapel Coffee House in Ormesby, will also be screened during the Participatory session.

• Counterstorytellers: The Participatory Film Project will be screened at 10am at the The Garage on Saturday, August 27. Entry to this event is free.