Ethnographic Films | Student Showcase | University of Alabama at Birmingham

UAB Media Studies students work in partnership with community members in the Greater Birmingham area to share stories about their lives and experiences.

Disclaimer: The films presented here are the work of a student or students enrolled in an ethnographic filmmaking course at UAB. The subject of the film and any views expressed in the film are solely the work of student(s) and are neither endorsed by nor represent the views of UAB.

Also available in the UAB Libraries Digital Collections.

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Baseball's Living Museum

Jordan Blankenship and Chelsie Budd

Duration: 10:05

America’s oldest pro baseball park is Rickwood Field, a place to learn about baseball history and, if you’re lucky, catch a game. Jordan Blankenship: When I was trying to come up with topics for this class I asked my friend what she thought I should do. I should of know that because Amy works in baseball she would have said Rckwood field. I liked the idea though and reached out to film my sense of place there. Gerald Watkins answered and I took Amy and Chelsie to film. As we were walking around and talking about the field, I knew we needed to do a film here. We have meet so many great people through the Friends of Rickwood and the Negro Southern League Museum. They are all so passionate about baseball and the history it has with the city of Birmingham. The most important thing I learned was that Rickwood is a living museum because of the people that work there and care about the field and I hope other people discover this through our film and pay them a visit.
Community in Recovery

Rosie Cowart, DeSean Motley, and Parker Yarborough

Duration: 8:46

Party culture and shame can obscure the need for support for college students in recovery from substance use. And the isolation of Covid does not help. Parker Yarborough: I am a junior at UAB majoring in an independently designed major that combines psychology with film, writing, and art. Originally, our film began as a film about the conditions of various rehab facilities, but due to some limitations with access we decided to change direction. We heard about the CRC while working on connections for our original idea, and we quickly realized that they would be a great subject for a film due to the challenges facing the recovery community. There is something really impactful about a community of people who, through being vulnerable with one another, find strength in one another. Things like stigma and pop culture present special challenges to them because of how tethered addiction and morality are to each other. I never realized the scope of the problem, but this film has been an opportunity to do so. I feel like every person, regardless of their relationship to addiction, can learn from those at the CRC.
Comorbidity

Erin Otts and B F. S

Duration: 10:36

Personal experiences in pursuit of mental health support lead to the Magic City Acceptance Center, which offers an affirming place for LGBTQ teens
Decisions

Donte Johnson and Katherine Nguyen

Duration: 12:18

What might a Post-Roe v. Wade Alabama look like? Pro-Life and Pro-Choice activists describe the landscape in the AL Legislature. Donte Johnson: I’m a current Biomedical Science major at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (class of 2025). I chose this topic due to my interest in medicine and public advocacy. Social policies at the federal level intervenes in the livelihood of the patient with their physician. For nearly 49 years, the constitutional precedent of Roe v. Wade allowed nearly ½ of the American public to decide their willingness to continue pregnancy. However, precedent may not be likely to reach its 50th anniversary with the upcoming Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. If Roe is overturned, nearly 26 states are likely to curtail the right to choose. To examine this new possible reality, my film parter (Katherine Nguyen) and I examined this issue in the state of Alabama. Like the 25 other states, pro-life legislation could become the new law of the land. With the completion of our topic, I feel acquainted and reassured that ethnographic films can assert itself as a vehicle of social policy.
Resilience

Raven Shaw

Duration: 10:00

Two years into the pandemic, Alabama nurses share their stories from the Covid frontlines. Part of a longer project in partnership with the Alabama State Nurses Association. Raven Shaw: I wanted to invest time into a topic that I'm interested or passionate about. The pandemic has changed so much in the past two years and continues to linger over our heads unknown what the future may hold. Working at a drive-thru close to a major hospital I have had the honor to be near many nurses and hospital staff, caffeinating them before their exhaustingly long shifts. It was clear to me that these people had a lot to say. I have learned so much from this experience and wanted to shed some light into some of the bravest and most necessary people on this planet. We would not be where we are today without the courageous souls that continue to fight and persist through even the toughest of times.
[Art]ist Unbound

Palavi Ahuja

Duration: 11:59

What does it take to be an artist? A portrait of the artists through paint and film
BAMAzon [work in progress]

Laura Nell Walker

Duration: 41:34

Workers at an Alabama Amazon Warehouse organize to form a union in 2020-2021. As the vote nears, national and international attention focuses on Bessemer, Alabama. Work-in-progress.
Black Box: Is the Birmingham Jail a Structure of Racism?

Richard Stockham

Duration: 2:15

While the U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against the state of Alabama for the dangerous and unhealthy conditions of its prison and the nation considers broad criminal justice reforms, the local Birmingham jail remains unchanged and unchallenged.
Brave Space

Lillie Ben Harris

Duration: 15:02

Brave Space explores discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ youth in Birmingham, AL against the backdrop of an LGBTQ+ affirming charter school preparing to open its doors in the city, and an Alabama mother who lost her gay child to suicide.
D-LIFE: Church Without Walls

J Wilks

Duration: 13:41
Firmly Rooted

Caleb Wood

Duration: 12:21

Fountain Heights Farms is an urban community farm in the historic Fountain Heights neighborhood of Birmingham, AL. "We dreamt about a Black centered space where we could grow healthy food, teach and learn with our community, and have a real ownership stake, and benefit from the emotional, mental, and physical labor that we were providing to our then employer. We dreamed of a space that would be for us, by us, to benefit us and then slowly began to manifest it."
Greenspaces

Dominique Foreman

Duration: 8:42

Covid-19 restricted access to most recreational spaces, but not parks. Greenspaces and outdoor recreation saw a surge during the pandemic in the Greater Birmingham area.
Influence

Matthew Lapidus

Duration: 9:23

What is the influence of entertainers and comedians in the ongoing fight for racial justice in Birmingham and specifically in bringing down the Confederate Monument in Linn Park in the wake of the murder of George Floyd?
Lace Em' Up

Brianna Madry

Duration: 13:48

Black Joy and Roller Skates. A short history of roller skating in Huntsville, Alabama.
Land Without Demand

Luke Schlauder

Duration: 10:44

Urban explorers find Birmingham offers many abandoned spaces to investigate, but what can we do to reinvent and revitalize the city's brownfields and grey fields.
No Trespassing

Sabrina Palmer

Duration: 8:50

An exploration of who polices the boundaries of the LGBTQIA+ community and questions who feels like they belong and who does not.
Shelter

Grace Brown

Duration: 7:27

The Covid-19 stay-at-home protocol had a major impact on pets and pet adoption
Smoke

Kevin Dudley

Duration: 13:58

A documentary about marijuana prohibition
The Alabama Atheists

Victoria Moffett

Duration: 8:55

Being an atheist in the Bible Belt in Alabama can carry social costs. A group of atheists find fellowship and common ground in a meet-up group they have formed.
The Birmingham Free Store

Addie Knight

Duration: 9:34

The Birmingham Free Store follows a philosophy of mutual aid, not charity, to meet growing needs for assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic.