Participatory documentary-making

The audiovisual collective Mullu uses film and journalism as “platforms to fight for a more just, diverse and collective world”. 

One of the things Mullu does is create and distribute films, reporting and videos collaboratively, amplifying the stories and realities of Indigenous, Afro-descendant and frontline communities – communities that, as Desirée Yépez, from Mullu and Radio Ambulante, says, have traditionally been “outside of setting the agenda”.  It is important, she says, for these communities to have active roles in what stories get told:

“We … integrate members of these communities within the team to try to develop spaces of exchange where they can learn about the more technical parts of journalism or about specific methodological parts. And go deep and learn precisely about their stories. They are documentaries of the highest quality in terms of image, with the power of storytelling of journalism.“

Desirée Yépez

While creating documentaries that involved fi“That’s why it’s called malayerba, because, you know, the weed is that species that you don’t want anywhere. You want to eradicate it, don’t you? So the weed, no matter how much you want to, no matter how much you cut it, it will always come back.”lming in various communities in Peru, Ecuador and Mexico, for example, the team worked alongside people who lived in these communities, integrating them into the project team, and creating avenues for dialogue and reflection.