ABSTRACT
Contemporary video activism has its historical roots in political documentary film, video and television as well as in news journalism, art and public relations. One of its main influences is the tradition of ‘committed documentaries’ that attempts to give voice to marginalised groups or propagate social justice. The spread of wireless broadband Internet access, the common use of smartphones with integrated Internet access, video cameras, live streaming apps and editing software have enabled a new kind of video activism. Accordingly, video activism favours ‘small media’: short, fragmented, spontaneous forms. But the common focus on short witness videos or ‘social spots’ does not suffice. Today’s hybrid media environments are contested and complicated terrains for video activism and radical filmmaking. They offer new potentials for forming counterpublics and proliferating alternative views, but at the same time enable surveillance, propaganda, doxing and trolling.
