Bridging the Visual and Social Science Research Gap through Film
A visual insight into the stories of four undocumented women in Geneva

Ex aequo winner of the Global Migration Award 2021

Abstract

This research explores how the medium of filmmaking can be mobilised as a tool to bridge the gap between visuality and qualitative social science research through the making of an anthropological documentary film, Elles les (in)visibles, which explores the political and social (in)visibilities of four ‘undocumented’ women in Geneva. Through the stories of these four women, the film utilises visuality’s emotive power to reach a wider audience, enabling the formation of a new gaze, shifting interpretative frames which structure the perception and recognition of these ‘undocumented’ migrant women’s humanity. Understanding how filmmaking can be used as a method, a process and a subject of research within sociology and anthropology opens up new realms for relating the visual to the textual.

About the Author

Passionate about filmmaking, storytelling and the transformative potential of visual representations and aesthetics, Maevia Griffiths works both as social science researcher and as a film director, aiming to bring together both disciplines. While Maevia grew up in Switzerland, she then studied a BA in Disaster and Emergency Management and at York University (Toronto CA) and at SOAS (London UK) and then spent a few years travelling and working for diverse humanitarian organisations around Europe, Asia, Western Africa and Latin America. Through a focus on visual studies and visual anthropology, she graduated from an MA in Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute (2021), specialized in Power and Conflict and Gender studies and is a currently finishing a Masters in Screen Documentary filmmaking at Goldsmiths University of London (2022). Her works includes various social activist film projects, such as the documentary film The Drop (2019), the art video Grievable//Ungrievable (2020) and the documentaries Elles les (in)visibles (2021) and The Kingfisher (2022), which all recount untold stories for social justice. Maevia uses filmmaking as a medium to visually engage with social science research and social activism, and regularly works with vulnerable populations in diverse cultural settings. Aware of the power dynamics involved in research and filmmaking, she attempts to integrate visual anthropological perspectives into her work, ensuring that the recording of different populations is always carried out with great respect for their needs and beliefs.

Further Reading

Santos Rodriguez, Victor, and Maevia Griffiths. “Reclaiming Agency through the Politics of the In_Visible Body.” On_Culture, July 2022, p. No 13 (2022): In_Visibilities. DOI.org (Datacite), https://doi.org/10.22029/OC.2022.1269.