Family Values

We’ve finished our first digital storytelling workshop! The six pieces we produced are quite extraordinary… there’s a rawness and honesty about them that brings a tear to the eye and, collectively, they have an impact that is even greater than their parts.

The process was quite agonising for the storytellers… exacerbated by the fact that I insisted on documenting the whole journey… Imagine… you’re puzzling through how best to storyboard and script complex ideas and emotions… and you glance up to find a lens trained on you and a boom-pole hanging over your head! Aagh!

Whilst I hate being on camera it's something I've kind of gotten used to (after all I have no-one other than myself to blame!) In my head I had justified the whole extravaganza as a necessary evil.

If we want acceptance of our stories we have to make ourselves visible, right?

Within the stories themselves a theme gradually emerged about how lack of social acceptance causes our families to BECOME INVISIBLE. We want recognition, validation, equality… but why do we have to put ourselves in the spotlight to achieve this?

Several storytellers chose not to label themselves as 'lesbian mum' or 'foster parent' or ‘rainbow family’. After all, other families don't need to carefully select words (or pictures) to identify themselves... Maybe we need to reappropriate In/Visibility?

I realised most of the digi-docs ended up being told without actually identifying all the key players in each story. Various people chose not to be seen (ramifications at work; legal requirements imposed by the foster-care system; a desire to protect your family’s privacy… and of course ’shyness’!) Instead we utilised kids drawings, blurred photos, abstract representations of states of mind… Sometimes what was not said (or shown) was just as important as what was… I was reminded of film theory 101 - ELLIPSIS.

I guess, at the end of the day, it’s about having the power to frame your own reality, whether you’re gay or straight, five years old or sixty five… Bugger ‘difference’ or ’sameness’ - shouldn’t we all have the right to tell our own stories, emphasising the points that are most important to us… showing what we want to reveal?

Isn't it interesting how short digital docos viewed in a virtual-community-web-space grant us the power to do this? This is the stuff that really excites me… (see ‘getting interactive’ for a description of our prospective ‘rainbow family tree’) So crossing fingers, knees and toes that we’re successful in one or two of our many submissions to funding agencies and broadcasters over the last couple of months…

And, BTW… hope to post some of the digital stories from the workshop shortly…