The first screening of student documentaries made in partnership with the Lincoln City Council took place on the 17th of January, 2024 in the Lincoln Arts Centre.

It was the first sign of success for a new filmmaking module called “Community Film”. The module is being led by Phillip Warnell, a lecturer at the University of Lincoln.

Phillip said on a LinkedIn post: “I’m extremely grateful to have colleagues such as Ben Anderson [from the Lincoln Arts Centre] and Frances Plant [from the Lincoln County Council] with the vision to be able to build community relations and documentary studies within the city of Lincoln.”

He said: “There’s genuine value in each of these projects for those involved, but they’re also evidence of the good work being done around the city.”

The module allows students to select a community project to document, which they eventually turn into a documentary.

Staff in the council coordinate the first line of contact between students and community projects. Students can pick from a long list of council-funded initiatives to film as part of their documentary project.

Paul Carrick, the neighbourhood manager for the City of Lincoln Council, said: “To see them [the documentaries] on the big screen is truly unbelievable.

Regarding the community projects, Rejwan Gareb, a first-year film production student at the university, said: “[The screening was] was really cute. I didn’t realise there were all these little things to do in Lincoln.”

From litter-picking to football clubs and charities, there were many different subjects covered by the screening.

Rachel Scarrott, a filmmaking and documentary lecturer at the university said: “The more you connect with communities, the more you find the unusual things that are happening.”