University of Manchester interns create impactful documentary with Sick! festival
Six students from SoSS and SALC have produced a documentary exploring community engagement as part of a creative media internship.
Six student interns from the (SoSS) and (SALC) were paid the living wage as Creative Media Interns, working under the guidance of the renowned Media Company 鈥溾��, to produce a documentary that explores the festival鈥檚 impact on community engagement.
The purpose of the Creative Media Intern project is to improve the employability of our students who identify as being from Global Majority heritage 鈥� including Black, Mixed, South Asian heritage 鈥� who are currently under-represented in our undergraduate student community and in the creative sector.
Sick!鈥檚 month-long festival, 鈥溾�� activated new narratives through creative collaboration in Charleston, Moston and Harpurhey in North 91直播. The students worked on a documentary that included interviews, and testimonies, illuminating the festival鈥檚 impact, and the importance of platforming creative spaces for marginalised community voices.
For the students, the primary goals of the documentary were to encapsulate the festival's core mission and to collect feedback that will help ensure the Sick! Festival remains inclusive and continues to make a positive impact on the local community. The students presented their work at the end of their internship to staff and students from the University of Manchester and members from Sick! Festival.
The interns arrived at a really busy time for us, and it was a refreshing change of pace to have external voices helping us shape the wrap-up film. The film is a testimony to the students鈥� commitment to the project. In a short space of time, they threw themselves in a new working environment and created an interesting and engaging final product that showcased the skills they learnt. We are incredibly pleased with this project's success and thoroughly enjoyed working with the students.
Following the screenings of the film, Dr Sheena Kalayil, Dr Simon Parry and Dr Claire Fox shared their thoughts on the successful outcome of the project:
We were really impressed with the final film. It reflects great work by our amazing students and a brilliant partnership with Sick! Festival. The project aims to support access to opportunities in creative and cultural industries for a diverse group of students.
The Creative Media Internship also really builds on our strong relationships with a range of cultural partners across Greater 91直播. We will continue to look for creative ways to combine both these aims in the future.
From the shortlisting phase to the end result, I have been so impressed with the calibre and enthusiasm of our students. It's been wonderful to again work with our colleagues in SALC and forge a new partnership with SICK! festival, who have guided and supported our students throughout the process. The brilliant film the students鈥� produced is a credit to their hard work and furthers the commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in the School of Social Sciences.
In addition to gaining practical experience in filmmaking, the students creatively explored topics closely related to their academic studies. They highlighted the communicative power of video, noting how it contrasts with the predominantly text-based methods of their degree programmes. As a result of the internship, a few of the students are now considering creative paths in their studies and future careers.