Drawing as collective self-care: Leeds animation workshop’s collaborative practices during the pandemic

Abstract

Studies and debates about the impact of the Covid-19 (Covid-19 is the term widely used to denote the SARS-CoV-2 virus and adopted by the World Health Organization when communicating with the public) pandemic on the film and moving image industry have emphasized the economic and cultural consequences of lockdowns and social restrictions on cinematic productions and theatrical and festival circuits, leading to the rise of streaming platforms and services. Within this discussion, little attention has been drawn to the independent sector of non-profit cooperatives or collectives, grassroots distribution companies and community archives involved in feminist and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual+ activism. This essay examines this area of post-pandemic cinema through the example of Leeds Animation Workshop, a women-run, feminist collective. Since its establishment in the eponymous West-Yorkshire city in 1978, the collective has been producing and distributing gender-focused animation films about social and educational issues worldwide. My argument is that Leeds Animation Workshop’s online media activities during the pandemic signal less an adjustment to a new media environment in response to social restrictions than a repurposing of their gendered and participatory media practices for social change and critical intervention.