The mission of Learning from the Grassroots is to document collective political action in film narratives. In doing so, new forms of storytelling must be invented that involve the actors more than usual in the creation process of the narrative. This becomes a challenge insofar as on the one hand collective processes are involved, but they must be presented in such a way that viewers are not overwhelmed by the diversity of actors and their perspectives. Usually, the central thread of the narrative is created by an individual whose unique perspective – their world – forms the background of the narrative.

When it comes to the common cause and the way in which it becomes a political narrative, it is crucial that this narrative can be supported by the participants. Even if the creative decisions about the narrative structure of the film ultimately have to be made by the film team, the actors can be involved in several stages of the film:

1) In the conception phase, for example, a collective brainstorming session could take place in which the actors discuss their ideas about which aspects of the common theme are essential for the narrative.

2) After the dramaturgical concept / the narration has been developed, it could be put up for discussion again.

3) In the production phase, the different edited versions could be disclosed to all stakeholders so that they can object if the presentation does not take their perspective sufficiently into account or if they do not feel understood.

For all these steps of participation, there will be a password-protected discussion forum on the lftgr.net website, which is only open to those involved.

The question:

What kind of coordination of the creation process of the film narrative leads to the actors feeling involved and represented by the political narrative in the best possible way?

… is at the heart of what Learning from the Grassroots is all about.

It is through narrative […] that political thinking is actually realized. Through the narrated action that constitutes narrative, man relates to life or belongs to life, insofar as human life is inevitably political life. Narrative is the first dimension in which a human being lives, through Bios and not through Zoé, a political life and/or a life transmitted to other human beings. 2 

2 Julia Kristeva, Die Banalität des Bösen, in: Politik und Verantwortung. Zur Aktualität von Hannah Arendt, p. 131 (Julia Kristeva, The Banality of the Evil in: Politics and Responsibility. On the Actuality of Hannah Arendt, cited from the German Edition).