Our Stories: Make a Film with Your Community

Our Stories invites community members and anyone interested in storytelling to explore how people represent their experiences and places through film. The evening features a short talk by Dr Habib Moghimi (University of Sydney) and Nick Grinpukel (Social Impact Lab, UTS) on how documentary and creative media can support communities in telling their own stories. The session asks: who tells our stories, who decides what is seen and heard, and what changes when people hold the camera themselves?

The event continues with a screening of Parramatta Redux by Malini Sur (Western Sydney University), a 38-minute documentary exploring the diverse communities connected to the Parramatta River, from First Nations Darug custodians to migrants and long-term residents. Following the screening, a Q&A with the filmmaker, panelists, and audience will explore the film’s approach to representation, storytelling, and the possibilities of documentary practice.

Speakers

Habib Moghimi

Habib Moghimi is a media sociologist and filmmaker at the University of Sydney, working at the intersection of public sociology and visual media. He convenes TASA’s Media Thematic Group and developed the concept of public sociological film, using documentary and participatory methods to share sociological research with communities beyond academia.

Nick Grinpukel

Nick Grinpukel joins us from the Social Impact Lab at UTS’s Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion. As a facilitator and action research practitioner, his work brings together diverse community and university partners to co-design responses to complex social and environmental challenges. His work focuses on participatory practices that centre lived experience and create meaningful, place-based change.

Malini Sur

Malini Sur is an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. An award-winning author, documentary filmmaker, and photographer, her work has been supported by the Australian Research Council, the Dutch Research Council, Singapore’s Ministry of Education, Tata Trusts, and Parramatta Council.

Parramatta Redux (38 minutes) tells the evolving story of timeless connections, exploring the enduring impact of colonization and the living, breathing reality of the Parramatta River and its city today. The film uncovers the resilience of those who have called Parramatta home, from its Indigenous custodians to its newest immigrants. As new infrastructures reshape space and migration alters the demographics of Western Sydney, the river and its spirits are more than an enduring witness to the strains between country and displacement, heritage and modernity, and progress and climate. This film is a journey through the past, present, and future of Parramatta, and an invitation to reflect on the ongoing tensions between historical forces and rapid changes

This documentary film is an outcome of The Collaborative Museum: Embedding Cultural Infrastructure in the City Australian Research Council Linkage Project LP200301481 and generous support from the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.