Film
Many of the inhabitants of the block of flats met me with my camera in my hand — some, open to dialogue; others, more reluctant: why was I interested in the life of a pipe, of a heater, of a water tap, of an elevator? I was interested, because all of them were charming elements of a new life for the people who moved into the buildings in the 1970s — a sign of modernity and contemporaneity with the rest of the (socialist) world, while to current lack of state involvement with the infrastructure of the blocks of flats was emblematic of a political system that is not interested in the welfare of its citizens.
While filming, I was not only able to explore the fine-grained detail of my participants’ lives, but I also established relationships of trust with them which carried on outside of filming. I attended meetings, visited all the common spaces, spent time in the administration office when people came by to pay their utilities, joined the elevator mechanic when the elevator had a fault, etc. Despite the much-feared possibility that filming is intrusive and that it closes doors, in my case, it opened many.
Each time I filmed an activity, I shared my footage with the people involved, and filmed the resulting interview (see Jean Rouch’s Chronique d'un été for a classic example). Most often, participants would ask me to pause the footage, so that they could tell me more about a particular scene. For instance, I filmed an extensive scene with Mr. Bud and Mr. Anton, which is partly included in the final film. I then shared the same footage with each of them separately, and gained invaluable insight in how they saw themselves, each other, and their contribution to the building. I also received clarifications concerning details of the building. Video-elicitation was thus not only an open way of collaborating in the making of the documentary, but also a fruitful way of gaining more information.
After sharing my footage with my research participants, who showed their support, I shared it with Ileana Szasz, a visual anthropologist based in Bucharest who offered to edit the documentary. In editing, I decided to not use any voice-over, but to give the film a clear direction through the montage. This way, in the phrasing of David MacDougal, it is the viewer rather than the author who fills the gaps between the shots and sequences of the film, discovering connections within a network of possibilities structured by the author (Macdougall, 2007, p. 70).
For more information about the film, please visit these pages: Synopsis, Trailer, Distribution, Screenings, Impact.