Paper Short Abstract:

This paper offers an autoethnographic account of screening a short film to different publics. What can academic and non-academic responses to an ethnographic film teach us about anthropology's potential as a publicly engaged discipline?

Paper Abstract:

Multimodal anthropology is particularly effective for casting a vision of an alternative future, one where communities and their cultures are understood, structural inequalities are challenged, and society can flourish. The possibility of a publicly engaged anthropology should underscore the discipline’s relevance in making comment on society, human rights, politics etc., yet its current absence in public debate, especially in British anthropology, raises the question about who anthropology is for. In this paper, I argue that the repositioning of multimodality to the centre of the discipline can hold promise if we, as multimodal researchers, carry with us the potency of the periphery into teaching, research, and public practice.

A critical reflection on anthropology’s ‘publics’ will frame the discussion of the paper. Taking the case study of a short ethnographic film “Drive to School”, that documents the provision of education to stateless children in Cambodia, I will offer an autoethnographic account of the embodied experience of screening to academic and non-academic publics. Through this example, I reflect on why anthropology often feels closeted, and hidden away from the public. I will also offer comment on why the anthropologist must become comfortable with the critique that comes from showcasing their work to different publics in order to build resilience and resistance within the academy.