Community Film Making (April – May 2025)
Funded by Edinburgh 900, Empowering Multicultural Communities Alliance (EMCA) in partnership with Media Education proudly launched Flouring in the Westside—a community filmmaking project in the Southwest of Edinburgh.
Running from April to May 2025, the project invited local residents to learn filmmaking skills while exploring and celebrating the creative and diverse lives of people in the Southwest of Edinburgh.
Why It Matters
For decades, neighbourhoods like Wester Hailes have been framed by deficit-based narratives—stories that focus on poverty, crime, discrimination or deprivation. These stigmas flatten complex communities into one-dimensional headlines, silencing the voices of those who live there.
This film making project is about changing that narrative from within.
By inviting local people—especially those from long-term stigmatised areas—to create their own film, the project:
-
Empowers residents as storytellers, not subjects of outside media
-
Celebrates creativity and diversity often overlooked by mainstream representations
-
Builds community pride and confidence, showcasing positive local stories
-
Develops practical media skills that participants can continue to use and share
-
Challenges public perceptions, encouraging viewers across the city to see Wester Hailes and similar communities in a positive new light
Final Screening & Group Conversation
The film premiered on 21st June 2025 at the Community Wellbeing Collective, bringing together participants, friends, and neighbours for a community screening and group chat. The post-film discussion gave space for reflection, shared experiences, and ideas about building dialogue, ownership, and local storytelling.
