The New Orleans VideoVoice Project

The New Orleans VideoVoice Project is a partnered health initiative between REACH NOLA and the California-based VideoVoice Collective. The VideoVoice Collective brings academic researchers, filmmakers, technology mavens, social justice champions, and community leaders together to improve the health conditions of underserved communities. REACH NOLA joined forces with the VideoVoice Collective in August of 2007 and has collaborated since that time. In February of 2008, REACH NOLA and VideoVoice Collective partners worked together to train ten New Orleans residents in the use of video cameras. After completing this 2-day training, these novice filmmakers were encouraged and supported to shoot footage in and around the Central City neighborhood, while continuing to meet on a weekly basis to share and discuss their footage and emerging themes. During May and June of 2008, community filmmakers and expert editors on our team collaboratively edited the footage to create a documentary which has screened within the Central City community. At this community screening, filmmakers as well as other residents of Central City where invited to come, eat, mingle, view and collectively discuss the images shown.

From this process we hope to learn if the process of training and engaging marginalized community members in the use of film to communicate their ideas and hopes will encourage community social action and if so, what kind of social action. Guided by Community-Based Participatory Research principles, our project will investigate the use of videovoice methodology to

1. strengthen our existing community-academic partnership,
2. enhance the social capital of Central City residents to include networks of filmmakers and media professionals,
3. build community capacity to produce and distribute their own media,
4. improve the understanding of community health in New Orleans, and
5. advocate for public health policy change.

VideoVoice Project Council