PUBLISHED RESEARCH
“When I finished my film, I realized that people really needed me there”: the transformative power of Collaborative Filmmaking
A qualitative study, published in Springer Nature's Research Involvement and Engagement, examining how the process of Collaborative Filmmaking shaped CSE educators’ motivation, self-reflection, and use of film as an advocacy tool
January 2025
The Starting Point
CSE educators build trust with communities every day, but their day-to-day strategies rarely get captured in a way that others can learn from — or that lets the educators themselves reflect on the impact of their own work.
In Brief
This peer-reviewed article, published in Research Involvement and Engagement, explores Collaborative Filmmaking — a research method where participants or practitioners make their own short films to document their work, then discuss and share them. Ten PJL educators used this method to capture how they build community support for CSE, then reflected upon the process and impact of the method. Their responses reveal filmmaking's power as more than a data collection tool.
Key Takeaways
→ Making the films boosted educators' pride and motivation in their work. Several educators described feeling newly seen and valued by their communities after finishing their films.
→ The films became advocacy tools, helping educators explain their work to other organizations, families, and skeptical community members. They shared examples of the persuasive power of the short films in changing mindsets around CSE in their communities of work.
Discover Other Resources
“Empowerment—Fulfilled, Free, and Strong”: Conceptualizing Youth Empowerment in Madagascar Using an Arts-Based Methodology
This study, published in Health Promotion Practice, shares results from our participatory research on what youth empowerment means in the Malagasy context, using the Visual Voices methodology.
From Classroom to Community: A Study of the Multi-Level Impacts of a Comprehensive Sexuality Education School Subject in Madagascar through Collaborative Filmmaking
Through Collaborative Filmmaking, a participatory visual research methodology, CSE teachers in Madagascar's rural public middle schools documented how the subject can positively transform a school community
