Back to the motherland!

Just back from a very special project in my hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil 🇧🇷

For two blissful weeks, I worked with the brilliant team at the Museu da Imagem e do Som de BH (Museum of Image and Sound) on a creative archive filmmaking project in one of the city’s biggest districts, Venda Nova.

We recorded 14 oral history interviews with a women’s group from the Centro Cultural Venda Nova who shared their stories and memories of the district. We ran smartphone filmmaking workshops with an intergenerational group of locals, who captured their own footage and photos of the place they call home.

All of this will be woven together with archival material from the museum into a new documentary film, launching in June 2026!

The film will bring to life family memories, spooky tales, and reflections on urban development and will offer a grassroots view of the history of Venda Nova.

We also organised a special event at the Museum with a guided tour of its exhibition, a short talk about heritage & archives and Reels Editing workshop with the talented Thi @podonibus.

Huge thanks to Ulster University and my RD Dr. Brian Bridges for making this fieldwork possible, and to the wonderful Brazilian team - Thiago, Carol, Bruno, Debora and participants - for their enthusiasm, creativity, and huge support.

What a privilege to be making my first Portuguese-language film. Can’t wait to share these incredible stories with the world!