How do you film a river, a shifting landscape, an environmental challenge? This course equips researchers with the tools to capture their work on film. With a focus on sustainability and more-than-human relationships, the course combines lectures on visual ethnography and cinematography, masterclasses by ethnographic filmmakers, film screenings, and hands-on exercises and filmmaking activities, leaving participants with a short film of their own making and a new approach to documenting their research.
For whom?
This course is open to master, PhD and early career researchers across Utrecht University with an interest in using filmmaking for academic research or documentary film production. No previous filmmaking experience is necessary.
Places are limited and a few are reserved for the students of UU Masters in “Cultural Anthropology: Sustainable Citizenship” and “Sustainable Development”.
Program
- Day 1 – Introduction and cinematography (9h00 - 16h30)
The first day introduces participants to the history and practice of ethnographic and documentary filmmaking, including movements such as cinéma vérité and direct cinema, as well as approaches to filming natural environments and non-human subjects. Through hands-on exercises, participants learn the basics of framing, composition, lighting, camera movement, and visual storytelling.
The day concludes with the screening of “Ngrumat”(Caring), (Indonesia 2025), and masterclass by Nicolas Kriswinara Astanujati, film director and researcher at Universitas Gadjah Mada (Yogyakarta, Indonesia). - Day 2 – Script and production (9h00 - 16h30)
Participants develop their documentary concepts by transforming ideas into short scripts. Visual anthropologists Ymke Moes and Lindsey Biegel (Studio Loek) present their documentary “Aan de rand van het dorp” (Netherlands, 2025) and share insights on the process of turning a thesis into a film. Working in groups, participants will film an interview and capture B-Roll for visual storytelling. - Day 3 – Editing (9h00 - 16h30)
The third day focuses on editing as a creative and narrative tool in documentary filmmaking. Participants are introduced to non-linear editing, sound, colour correction, and storytelling techniques, while exploring how editing shapes meaning and perspective. Participants will work in group at their short video/film trailer and at the end of the day, will present a first draft and receive feedback. - Day 4 – Ethics, final presentations, and wrap up (9h00 - 14h30)
The final day is dedicated to completing and refining the short video/film trailers, with guidance from the course faculty throughout the editing process. Participants also reflect on ethical questions surrounding authorship, representation, and responsibility in documentary practice. The course concludes with a celebratory premiere of participants short videos, and information about opportunities for future project development and support.
The course is coordinated by Emanuele Fantini (IHE Delft and UU) and Reinout van Schie, trainer and filmmaker at Kleine Beer Film, as an activity of the Visual Lab for Water, Climate and Deltas funded by Utrecht University's Pathways to Sustainability.
- Start date and time
- End date and time
- Location
- Hybrid Active Learning Classroom, Bolognalaan 2.049
- Registration
Interested to join? Please send an email to Emanuele Fantini (e.fantini@uu.nl) with a 150-word (max) summary of your research interests and motivation for exploring filmmaking as a research method. Deadline for applying to the course: 22 June 2026.