Participatory filmmaking in voluntary sector research: innovative or problematic?

Abstract

This paper draws both on the authors’ experiences of making a participatory film exploring collective leadership in diverse communities, and on a world café style workshop at the 2018 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference organised by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Voluntary Sector Studies Network. The intention is to provoke dialogue about the opportunities and challenges of participatory filmmaking as a research method, and whether it is an appropriate methodological approach for voluntary sector research, with the potential to advance thinking on about and the use of mixed-media methods.