Dog Days

Dog Days was filmed as part of my dissertation research conducted between 2011 and 2013. My research was an ethnographic investigation of the activities and relationships of those involved with and associated with a grassroots organization, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF). The FSC/LAF is a network of cooperatives and farmers that focuses on land-based development for African Americans within the southeastern US. This vignette was filmed during a visit from a FSC/LAF organizer in Alabama to a local farmer who had recently erected a hoop house. He was demonstrating how his vegetables had grown within the new arrangement.

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My approach to filmmaking combines observational and participatory techniques. Observational cinema is a skilled practice of being present in the moment and responding to relationships and situations happening in front of the camera. Participatory cinema uses the contributions of participants both as a means to probe deeper into research questions and as a means for collaboration between researcher and participants. In my research, filmmaking was a repetitive process of collaboratively filming, editing, and viewing material resulting in a form of adaptive co-production.