CO-CREATING: as communities • From Mark IV Tank to World War One Crater: How film and community methods can support history and archives in practice

From the national French monument D51 ‘Deborah’ the Mark IV tank with French and British communities explaining the impact of tank warfare, to the World War One French battlefields and the Hawthorn Crater blast which heralded the start of the Battle of the Somme, we explore how filmic co-creation processes with communities can help support heritage. The Production House method by Associate Professor and Producer Fiona Graham and Senior Lecturer and cinematographer Paul Ottey is a distinctive and multi-disciplinary creative practice-based approach to factual content including history and educational films.

A number of distinct projects have successfully utilised this model. Although intrinsically linked through a co-creation process, the process allows the filmic narrative to “pull” the creation of new content through a participatory and community-focused line of enquiry which means that content is tailored to affected communities. The process generates new knowledge with communities in France and the UK about stories and content as well as processes and tools. With exclusive access to First World War monument sites and archaeologists we explore how film technologies today are working with schools, communities, and cross disciplines to support heritage with exhibitions and public engagement, talks and school activities in museums in France and England.