The Phenomenological Film Collective: Introducing a cinematic‐phenomenological research method for social advocacy filmmaking

Abstract

This paper introduces the vision for the Phenomenological Film Collective (http://pfcollective.com), a research and filmmaking group which utilizes phenomenological research in the service of social advocacy filmmaking. I outline the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of developing a “cinematic‐phenomenological research method” for PFCollective in order to illuminate lived experiences of sociocultural oppression for public viewership via cinematography. The roots of cinematic phenomenology are situated within the theoretical framework of liberation psychology, which calls on psychologists to pursue research that can facilitate consciousness‐raising and social justice across society. The paper provides a methodological overview of existential‐hermeneutic phenomenological research and discusses how its research findings can be disseminated to the widespread public in artistic formats. I demonstrate how filmmaking is an appropriate aesthetic language through which to disseminate phenomenological research about lived experiences of oppression, grounding this proposition in phenomenological philosophy and liberation psychology. I outline the procedural steps for conducting cinematic‐phenomenological research to produce phenomenological films about oppressive sociocultural phenomena. The paper concludes with suggestions for academic disciplines to become more interdisciplinary in our collective pursuit for social advocacy and change.

Open Science From a Qualitative, Feminist Perspective: Epistemological Dogmas and a Call for Critical Examination

“…A marrying of creative arts, including poetry, photovoice, and film, with dominant understandings of constructs like research, analysis, and data, seems to challenge some of our field's most core assumptions. Poetry has been utilized as a method of analysis in a variety of contexts within social science research (Butler-Kisber, 2010;Koelsch, 2016), and methods like photovoice and film are garnering attention as ways to investigate phenomena within psychological research (Gupta, 2019;Migliorini & Rania, 2017). In particular, these methods have been employed to examine experiences unique to women and members of systematically marginalized groups (e.g., Hordyk et al, 2014), and I argue that these methods are critical to feminist psychology in the very ways in which they challenge deeply embedded and internalized biases toward the role of creativity in research.…”

Reflecting back and imagining forward: Qualitative inquiry in psychology at the dawn of a new era.

“…Additionally, while qualitative psychology has thus far taken pride in advocating for psychology as a human science (Giorgi, 1970;Polkinghorne, 1984), we also envision a future in which qualitative researchers take interest in the burgeoning movement toward the psychological humanities in understanding psychological life and human subjectivity (Freeman, 2023;Sugarman & Martin, 2020;Teo, 2017). This movement, and its epistemological shift in how we conceive of psychology as a field, may encourage qualitative researchers to experiment with creative possibilities of interdisciplinary routes to knowledge production for psychology beyond traditional science, such as the arts (Gupta, 2019;Jones, 2012;Leavy, 2015). Alternatively, as qualitative research becomes more integrated into mainstream psychology and welcomed by quantitative psychologists who espouse natural science approaches, we predict that embracing plurality will include further enthusiasm for mixed methods work across the field.…”

“…Overall trends in the field of psychology are leaning toward public science, in an effort to democratize knowledge production and communicate with society in accessible ways (Eaton et al, 2021). Nontraditional mediums such as YouTube videos, academic podcasts, and filmmaking are embraced as alternative methods of research dissemination and “publication” beyond peer-reviewed articles, scholarly books, and academic conferences (Cox et al, 2023; Gupta, 2019; Jones, 2012; Leavy, 2015). For instance, Michelle Fine’s keynote address at the 2023 SQIP conference called on qualitative psychologists to utilize public-facing scholarship to “provoke aesthetic openings and action” in our quest to be a transformative force for justice.…”

Sometimes, indirect is more direct. An aesthetic–apophatic phenomenological approach to self-reflexivity in qualitative inquiry.

“…Arts-based research approaches to phenomenology offer opportunities to enquire phenomena and concerns through more-than-word logic, such as using performative play, poetry, graphic novels, painting, music, and dance or movement (Blumenfeld-Jones, 2015; Bresler, 2006; CohenMiller, 2018; Finlay, 2009, 2015; Gupta, 2018, 2019; Gupta et al, 2019; Gschwandtner, 2014; van Manen, 2014). These nonverbal approaches provoke questioning and inspiration to sociopolitical concerns (Baden & Wimpenny, 2014; Bagley & Castro-Salazar, 2019; Barone & Eisner, 2012; Gupta, 2018, 2019; Irwin, 2004; Lindhout et al, 2020; McNiff, 2008).…”