Presentation at Making Links Conference 2010 in Perth, Western Australia. www.makinglinks.org.au

1. Using film as a personal advocacy
tool, an evaluation methodology & a
social action medium
Natalie Georgeff
DADAA

2. DADAA
• DADAA (Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts) is a
community arts organisation based in Fremantle, WA
• One of the Key Producer (KP11) organisations funded by the Australia
Council for the Arts
• Mission of ‘Arts for Social Change’, aiming to promote social inclusion
for people with a disability or mental illness
• Community cultural development principles

3. Disseminate I
• An evaluation, research and publishing project since 2006
• Partnership between DADAA, Rio Tinto WA Future Fund, Healthway
(State Government’s health promotion initiative) through Health
Promotion Evaluation Unit
• Development of evaluation methodologies & frameworks in arts &
health
• Evaluations conducted in communities around Western Australia to
provide evidence for the effectiveness of community cultural
development (CCD) programs

4. Disseminate II
• Collects & share resources for the arts and health sectors that can
serve practitioners, academics & policy makers
• As a publishing initiative, Disseminate produces print or online books,
journal articles, advocacy papers, case studies and evaluation tools
• Hosts an inclusive digital platform & welcomes content that
demonstrates the diversity of arts and health practice
www.disseminate.net.au/

5. The Lost Generation Project I
• In 2002 shifts in the Australian Disability Employment policy resulted
in significant loss of supported employment, income and day
occupation places for adults with disabilities
• The Disability Services Commission engaged DADAA to facilitate
cultural solutions to address the multiple impacts of ageing and
disability (which includes people who had been institutionalised, the
“Lost Generation”)
• The result was The Lost Generation Project, an arts and cultural
initiative that engaged people living in supported accommodation in
connecting with their communities
keeping their lives off paper

6. The Lost Generation Project II
• Film making process involved significant consultation with
families, disability support staff & the storytellers with the film team
• Films are used as tools of self-advocacy, identity and social visibility
that highlight the qualities people with intellectual disabilities and their
contribution to their community
• From January 2007 to December 2009:
• 238 core participants involved
• 186 films produced
• 155 films screened at 24 community screenings
• 408 hours in arts workshops for participants
• 15 exhibitions relating to the project

7. Case Study Research
• Methodology & model chosen for Disseminate to evaluate
The Lost Generation Project
• Case study research is a common way to do qualitative research and
is distinguished by the size of the bounded case (e.g one individual, a
group, an entire program or an activity)
• Using data collection with multiple sources, case studies can provide
practitioners and policy makers with a better description & explanation
of experiences of a case, leading to greater understanding of issues
• A collective (multiple) case study is is an extended case study to
several cases

8. Social Inclusion Model
• Under a social inclusion model of evaluation, wellbeing is correlated
with social connectedness & relationships within a community
• To participate fully in the life of our society, people need to have
resources, opportunities and capabilities to (Social Inclusion Agenda
2010):
• Learn by being involved in education and training
• Work through employment (unpaid or voluntary)
• Engage by connecting with people & participating in cultural
activities
• Have a voice to influences decisions affecting them

9. Participatory Film Making
• Collaborative film making is a medium that can act as a process,
method & text for understanding the impact of the arts on participation
& well-being (Parr, 2007)
• ‘(It) facilitates a way of sharing in and understanding the multiple
ways in which creative work shapes self esteem and purpose for
those who partake, but who also perhaps find it difficult to
articulate such benefits' (Parr, 2007, p. 131).
• An effective way of reaching & articulating the views of powerless
groups in the community development process (Kindon, 2003)

10. Digital Case Study
• Five storytellers' films were selected to provide insight into an issue,
namely, social inclusion (or exclusion) of people ageing with
an intellectual disability
• To select the films as cases the we asked: What does this film
highlight? What is worth investigating further? What does this film
demonstrate about social inclusion?
• Data on the five films is being compiled through multiple sources to
demonstrate their experience & the impact of the film on their lives
keeping their lives off paper

11. Methodology I
• Data collection for each case study through filmed interviews and
document review, including art work & audio-visual materials
• Includes filmed semi-structured interviews with storytellers, family
members, disability support workers, Local and State Government
representatives, film makers and audience members
• In some way the film shows how people with an intellectual
disability can be socially included (or excluded). How do think the
Storyteller’s film has: Allowed them to learn develop new skills?
Engage in their community and connect with family & friends?
To have a voice and be heard and valued by family, friends &
the community?

12. Methodology II
• Qualitative thematic analysis by researcher to identify concepts
and categories from film “transciption” and other data sources
• Editing by the film maker to create the clip & tag that illustrates
the findings for each of the five cases (within case analysis)
• Thematic analysis across all of the cases (cross case analysis) will
commence once all of the cases are complete to develop an
interpretation or meaning of the collective case study
• Film maker will create a documentary from the collective case study
results

13. Digital Collective Case Study
• The five films that Disseminate has chosen to be part of the collective
case study will play a role in:
• Facilitating the understanding of the issues associated with
disability and ageing
• Demonstrating the impact of the films for the people directly
involved in The Lost Generation Project
• Highlighting the broader issue of social inclusion in relation to
Australian disability agendas

14. References
• Commonwealth Government of Australia, Australian Social Inclusion
Board, 2010, Social inclusion in Australia: how is Australia faring?
• Kindon, S, 2003, ‘Participatory video in geographic research: a
feminist practice of looking?’ Area, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 142–153.
• Parr, H, 2007. ‘Collaborative film-making as a process, method and
text in mental health research’, Cultural Geographies, vol. 14, pp. 114-
138.