ABSTRACT
Most film and video activists operated with little support from academic or public service media institutions, and instead adopted a do-it-ourselves approach. The speed and nimbleness of activist video-makers during uprisings, amidst the weakening of the commercial media’s monopoly control, has allowed movements, for short periods, to effectively challenge the reach and framing of the dominant commercial and public service media’s gate-keepers. In 2012, John Downing, the veteran social movement media researcher, addressed the Union for Democratic Communication conference. The video production capacity of many organizations was extremely limited, and continues to be so; more importantly, movements were seldom able to break through the control of distribution held tightly by the commercial and public service media and circulate videos beyond their local contexts. The self-managed Potocine theatre and film festival is part of the larger project of Suenos Films, which also includes intensive video-making training.
