Children's play in documentary, research and ethnographic film
An afternoon of screenings and discussion, presented in association with the BFI and ReMAP at UCL IOE.
Children's play in documentary, research and ethnographic film
27 May 2025, 13:00 – 19:00
Join us at BFI Southbank NFT3 on Tuesday May 27 2025 at 13:00 for an exploration of children's play in non-fiction film including how representation can inform views of childhood and children’s agency and the ways in which children's play is documented on screen.
While documentary, ethnographic and research films featuring children’s play may acknowledge the importance of play as a distinctive, essential, identifying characteristic of childhood, there are often still issues with the way in which play itself is filmed, presented and talked about, with the views and voices of children – even about their own play culture – often replaced by adult experts or narrators.
Considering the representation of younger children through the lens of their play culture and arguing for a reset of the non-fiction representation of children away from the conventional tropes of ‘innocent victim’ or ‘anarchic wild child', this half-day event will screen a selection of interesting and significant non-fiction films from the 1950’s to the 2020’s – using these to discuss how children’s play is represented in documentary, ethnographic and research film and exploring how they inform views of childhood and children’s agency.
Prominent play and media scholars will introduce the event and respond to the screening, which will be followed by a Q&A and audience-panel discussion.
This event will be particularly useful for researchers, policy makers, educators, students, and media creators in a wide range of areas including education, child studies, social sciences, anthropology, documentary and film studies, child health, play studies, arts and humanities.
Related links
- Department of Culture, Communication and Media
- Research in Media Arts and Play (ReMAP)
- UCL Knowledge Lab
Image
Grethe Mitchell.
Speakers
Emeritus Professor Andrew Burn researches media literacy in schools, the semiotics of moving images and young people's production of digital media.
Professor John Potter co-produces research with children using participatory, ethnographic and multimodal methods.
Dr Michelle Cannon researches media-making in educational settings using critical moving image literacy and social approaches to learning.
Dr Grethe Mitchell researches media representation and communication, often using practice methods.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes
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