Paper short abstract:

In my presentation I will explain the methodological usage of the documentary films "Not to judge" (2017) and "The Fear" (2020), both co-created by me, for affectively-oriented ethnographic research conducted in the region of Subcarpathia and focused on the problem of long lasting collective guilt

Paper long abstract:

In my presentation I will explain the methodological and imaginative use of the documentary film "Not to Judge" (2017), co-created by me, for affectively-oriented ethnographic research. I will discuss how this film broke the long lasting conspiracy of silence on the killings in Dębrzyna forest that happened in the years after WW II and I will explain how the public screening and discussions on this film initiated the dialogue and encouraged at least some members of the local community to testify on what actually had happened in the forest. Discussing the cognitive impact of the first film on ethnographic research I will present short videos taken from the second film "The Fear" (2020), also co-created by me, and revealing strong affects and emotions of interviewed social actors. Although those emotions cannot be textually captured they are materialized in gestures recorded in the film thus enabling better understanding of their role in the process of remembering about killings and of their importance throughout the whole research process.