Introducing Storytelling Through Real-World Experience
As part of Orientation Week, Head of School, Zenobia Simelane, took Media City Academy’s inaugural cohort on an excursion to the Human Rights Film Festival, introducing students to documentary storytelling within a real-world context at the very start of their academic journey.
The inclusion of the festival reflects a considered approach to how students are introduced to their craft. It situates storytelling within a broader social and cultural context from the outset, encouraging engagement with work grounded in lived experience.
The programme exposed students to a range of documentary forms, each offering a distinct approach to narrative.
Exploring Documentary Forms and Meaning
Agent 256 presented a more interpretive mode of storytelling, prompting varied responses from students and highlighting how meaning is shaped by both filmmaker and audience.
Chasing Glasses shifted the focus towards personal documentary, exploring gambling and addiction through lived experience. It raised early questions around representation, perspective, and narrative framing.
Hearts Remember extended this engagement further, exploring dementia through the experiences of patients, caregivers, and families, prompting reflection on dignity and access.
Alongside themes, students engaged with technical elements such as dramatisation, sound design, and emerging tools like AI, considering how these shape narrative.
From Observation to Creative Practice
Across the screenings, students encountered documentary as a space shaped by interpretation, intention, and decision-making. The conversations that followed were key, allowing them to reflect, share perspectives, and begin developing a critical voice.
The excursion reflects Media City Academy’s approach to learning, where exposure, critical engagement, and application are closely linked. Students are encouraged to interrogate what they encounter and translate those insights into their own work.
The timing aligns with the start of the Documentary Project Block, where students will create two short documentary films. The festival provides both inspiration and a framework for this process.
It also establishes an important foundation. Storytelling is approached as both a creative and reflective practice, encouraging students to consider not only how stories are constructed, but how they engage with the world.
For the Class of 2026, this marks an early point of engagement, shaping how they approach their work and position themselves within the creative landscape.
