Digital City Films

Digital City Films is a film series which is an annual project for an honors course on ethnographic filmmaking offered through the UAB Center for Urban Affairs. The project instructor is Michele Forman. Teams of students plan, research, write, film, and edit short documentary films about specific ethnographic subjects in area communities.

The course began in 2000 as "Guerilla Filmmaking in Anthropology" taught by Forman and Nick Kouchoukos. The course was initially co-sponsored by the McWane Science Center which planned to use the films in its exhibit "The Street". Other instructors who have participated in the class include Janice Kluge, Loretta Cormier and Rosie O'Beirne.

2010-2011

• "M. A. D. Skillz Dance Company" by Dawn Coleman and Caitlin Chandler (M. A. D. Skillz)
• "Food Insecurity" by Traw Crain and Colin Albea
• "Invisible Goals" by Alex Lanier and Erin Hennessey (Lakeshore Foundation sports programs)
• "Extraordinary Actors Who Happen to Be..." by Sarah Johnson and Alyssa Mitchell (Alys Stephens Center theater programs)
• "Invisible Jobs" by Britney Jones and Mallory Messersmith (office custodians)
• "Inner City Lacrosse" by Eddie Lewis
• "The Secret Life of Beekeepers" by Rebecca Marston and Kyle Henderson
• "The West End Community Garden" by Anna McCown and Lindsay Whiteaker (WE Community Garden)

2009-2010

• Films documenting the implementation of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus programs

2008-2009

• "Get Rhythm" by Doug Granks, Anna Lloyd and Patty Wang (John Scalici, Get Rhythm programs)
• "A Pound of Debt: Insurance and the Arts" by Nadria Tucker and Catherine Wright (health insurance for artists with Sharrif Simmons, Jimmy Hrom and J'Mel Davidson)
• "All for Prayer" by Brad Daly (Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Pelham)
• "Road to Recovery: Living With Mental Illness" by Jeralyn Powell and Autumn Stockwell (Mentall illness)
• "One of 3,000: The Janet Gillespie Story" by Morgan Anders and Thomas Wood (a former homeless woman)
• "One Closed Door After Another: Domestic Partner Benefits and UAB" by Jade Delisle (UAB benefits for domestic partners)
• "What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Sex Education in Alabama" by Jennifer Baggett and Ashley Davis (SHAPE workshops)

2007-2008

• "Birth Right" by Emily Jackson and Neeta Kirpalani (Alabama midwives)
• "Food to Fuel" by Rachel Thompson and Jim Warnock (Birmingham and Hoover biodiesel programs)
• "Hopheads: A Beer Story" by Paul Sholly and Jonathan Sutton (Free the Hops)
• "Making the Most at Hoover: Female Minority Achievement Council" by Jerald Appling and David Bala (Female Minority Achivement Council at Hoover High School)
• "Posi+ive" by Joshua Vazquez-Cofresi and Stephen Webb (1917 Clinic)
• "Saved: The Story of the Watercress Darter" by Linh Tran and Ingrid Pfau (Watercress darter and Seven Springs Ecoscape)
• "Under One Roof" by Tyler Godsy and Chris Lee (Mitchell's Place)
• "The Whole-Way House" by Nejla Harris and Logan Talbot (Lovelady Center)

2006-2007

• "A Street Divided" by Sarah Hereford and Krysta Parsons (protesters and escorts at New Woman All Women Clinic)
• "Growing Birmingham" by Eric Franks and Kelly French (Jones Valley Urban Farm)
• "Mixed Hope" by Allen Hyde and Anamaria Santiago (mixed-income living at Park Place (Hope VI development))
• "A Second Chance: The Cullman Area Animal Welfare Association" by Juli Bussman and Lance Mailloux (Cullman Area Animal Welfare Association)
• "New Horizons" by Rachel Gainer and Gregory Young (Horizons School)
• "Una Iglesia/One Church" by Skye Geerts and Jessica Walston (Hispanic parisioners at St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church)
• "La Casita" by Fred Mitchell and Spencer Roeder (Hoover Multicultural Resource Center)
• "The Least of Those Among Us" by Heather Nix and Vlad Sheinfeld (Jefferson County Cemetery)

2005-2006

• "The Wishmakers" by Lauren Leach and Kristen Williams (Magic Moments)
• "A Foot in Two Worlds" by Beth Warren and Sally Patricia Smith (Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama)
• "Buenos Aires in Birmingham" by Matt and Mike (Argentinian immigrants)
• "The Alpha Male" (Iota Nu chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at UAB)
• "Moss Point" (Birmingham-Southern College mission trip to post-Hurricane Katrina Moss Point, Mississippi)
• "Refuge: The Alabama Wildlife Center" by Dylan Angeline, Maria Bogomaz and Jeremy Felix (Alabama Wildlife Center)
• "Hand in Paw: A Therapy Tail" by Kendall Chew and Emilie Soffe
• "Ummah: A Portrait of Muslims in Birmingham" (Birmingham Islamic Center)

2004-2005

• "Let Everything Flow: A Portrait of Studio by the Tracks" by Brent Scrivner and Trent Thomas (Studio by the Tracks)
• "Congregation" by Clay Daniels (Covenant Community Church)
• "Natyananda: The Joy of Dance in the Magic City" by Pat King and Melissa Roberts (Natyananda dance company)
• "The Seasoned Performers: A New Stage in Life" by Evan Haarbauer (The Seasoned Performers theater company)
• "City En Memoriam" by Rachel Payne and Matt Posey (Oak Hill Cemetery and Oak Hill Memorial Association)
• "A Girl's Dilemma" by Inas Mahdi and Doc McCade (Birmingham City Schools Young Mother's Program)
• "Transit Dependent" by Richard Bennett and Zachary Huelsing (Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority riders)
• "Reviving Rosedale" by Liz Reed and Dominic Johnson (Rosedale Community Development Corporation)
• "Beneath These Hills" by Dustan Creech and Moyo Zandile (Docena mining community)

2003-2004

• "Benching: The Art of Watching Trains" by Bo Hughins and Neil Kirkpatrick (Railroad Reservation, train graffiti)
• "The Magic City's Clowns" by Lindsay Mouyal and Jen Pouyadou (Magic City Clown School)
• "Growing Up at Home" by Jacqueline Homm and Leslie Lambert (Hoover Little League Baseball)
• "A Separate Place" by Alan Barton and Christina Cooley (home schooling)
• "Meet Me at the Alabama" by Alan Franks and Ginny Humber (Alabama Theatre volunteers)
• "A Tribal Fusion" by Stephanie Kahalley and Lesley Wheatley (Devyani Dance Company, et al)
• "Abraham's Bosom" by Marcia DeFiore and Charles Kelley (faith-based ghost hunters)
• "The Big Six" by Rachel Corona and Miles Keith (Breakin Bread Records and Big Six hip-hop group)

2002-2003

• "All God's Children Say" by Reed Barrow and Maile Kruse (Hunter Street Baptist Church)
• "Care in Crisis" by Robert Head and Beth Koh (Cooper Green Hospital)
• "Celtic Love and Loyalty" by Robbie Keen and Anna Stansell (Celtic heritage groups)
• "Love Thy Neighbor" by Lorraine Singh and Kristin Smith (Sikh religion)
• "Peace of Christ/Pax Christi" (Pax Christi Birmingham and Mary's House)

2001-2002

• "In Search of 'The Dude'" by Mason Isbell and Wayne Skipper (competitive bowling)
• "Brown Paper Bag" by Tom Dalby and Janice Weeks (homeless people in Five Points South)
• "This is Just a Game" by Brock Owen and John Fields (role-playing games)
• "Wounded" by Brittney Pietrzak and Val Bowden (body piercing)
• "House of Prayer" by David Gathings, Corine Sinnette and Emily Simon (Southside Baptist Church and Temple Emanu-El)
• "Shoot" by Ingrid Atkinson and Melanie Norris (Global Championship Wrestling)
• "African/American" by Glenny Brock and Scott Silver (African immigrant community)
• "Hope Lodge" by Lindsey Elmore and Theresa Bodon (Joe Lee Griffin Hope Lodge)

2000-2001

• "Destino Birmingham" by Helga Mendoza (Hispanic community)
• "Sayre" by Miranda Gillespie and Sean Corley (Sayre mining community)
• "Birmingham Women's Rugby Club" by Haley Polhill and Meghan Ois (Birmingham Women's Rugby Club)
• "Chateau Vestavia" by Jon Prevatt and Jared Newcomb (Chateau Vestavia)
• "The Magick City" by Melinda Mock and Catherine Stevens (Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain)
• "Coleman's Cahaba" by Regina Windsor and Russ Praytor (Camp Coleman, Cahaba Girl Scout Council)
• "Bessemer Flea Market" by Chris Dacre and Akbay Cigden (Bessemer Flea Market)
• "BMX: Riders in Birmingham" by Thomas Daley and Brian Lee (bicycle motocross in downtown Birmingham)
• "Die Heimat In Der Fremde / A Home Away From Home" by Jody White III (Freunde Deutscher Sprache und Kultur)
• "Golden Village" by Beth West and Joel Seah (Golden Village restaurant)

References

• "Street Scenes: UAB and the Sidewalk Film Festival" (Spring/Summer 2006) UAB Magazine
• Hickerson, Patrick (May 6, 2008) "UAB students' Digital City Films project focuses on endangered watercress darter." Birmingham News
• Ratliff, Phillip (February 25, 2010) "Your tax dollars at work: Documenting federal programs in the Magic City." Birmingham Weekly

External links

• Ethnographic Films at UAB Archives