Translating Cultures of the Past

This an international, collaborative, and student-led project funded by the Monash/Warwick Alliance.

The project involved groups of postgraduate students from the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at Warwick (UK) and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Monash (Australia) coming together in 2016-17 to work collaboratively with a local filmmaker to create three short films based on different aspects of research into the historical past.

Project participants

Filming took place in Coventry (UK), summer 2016.

Project coordinators and leaders: Luke Bancroft and Liam Lewis.

Filming and creative design: TouchType Films, 2017.

At Warwick: Emma Campbell, Louise Campion, Liam Lewis, Gloria Moorman, Gavin Schwartz-Leeper, Jane Sinett-Smith

At Monash: Luke Bancroft, Roslyn Halliday, Rosa Martorana, Kathleen Neal

Planning and initial stages

The first stage of the project involved several meetings between the principal applicants, Liam Lewis and Luke Bancroft, in cooperation with Jamie Sergeant from TouchType Films.

The key aspect of the planning process was the canvassing of potential postgraduate students and academic staff at Warwick and Monash who were interested in the project and available for a week of filming in Coventry during summer 2016.

A secondary component of the preparation phase included reaching out to various locations, including the Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry Cathedral, St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry, and Stanbrook Abbey (Yorkshire), in order to enquire about the possibility of those institutions joining the project as partners, thereby granting us access to their spaces for filming during the third stage.

Second stage

The second stage of the project (filming) consisted of several days of filming on-site in Coventry under the direction of TouchType Films.

This stage was directed towards the production of three interviews with members of academic staff: Dr. Emma Campbell (French, Warwick), Dr. Gavin Schwartz-Leeper (Liberal Arts, Warwick) and Dr. Kathleen Neal (History, Monash);

Dr Emma Campbell

Dr Gavin Schwartz-Leeper

Dr Kathleen Neal

Then it was the creation of three short documentary-style videos based on current postgraduate research:

‘Reimagining Historical Spaces’ featuring Luke Bancroft (Monash), Jane Sinnett-Smith (Warwick), and Gloria Moorman (Warwick);
‘Giving Voice to the Past’ featuring Liam Lewis (Warwick) and Roslyn Halliday (Monash); and
‘Bridging the Gap in Women’s Religious Practice’ featuring Louise Campion (Warwick) and Rosa Martorana (Monash).

Reimagining Historical Spaces

Giving Voice to the Past

Bridging the Gap in Women’s Religious Practice

The six films were shot at the various locations listed above and gave the participants skills in filming and presentation for filming. Postgraduate participants were also brought together for a networking session at the end of the filming week in order to plan future collaboration and to inform each other of their work.

There was also an extended version of the 'Bridging the Gap' video and another film made 'Chanterai por mon courage'. a Warwick Monash Alliance production.

Bridging the gap in women's religious practice (extended)

Chanterai por mon courage

A Warwick-Monash Alliance production

The films have since been uploaded onto the Warwick Monash Alliance YouTube channel, as well as onto the departmental websites for the Centre for Renaissance Studies at the University of Warwick and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Monash University.

Further plans include: a formal launch at each institution; the broadcasting of the films on public screens around each campus; and the broadcasting of the academic interviews via the Warwick CRS podcast series. It is also our hope that the broad theme of the project– ‘Translating Cultures of the Past’–will lead to further collaboration between the two institutions in the UK and Australia.