The Making of All That Is Buried: Dialog, Chronotope and Decoloniality

Tracey, Maire; Stanton-Sharma, Simon; Nivesjo, Sanja; Barnes, Emma; Munslow Ong, Jade

Abstract

This article argues for the utility of Mikhail Bakhtin’s literary theories in developing dialogic and decolonial filmmaking practices. Using the example of our research-led documentary film, All That Is Buried, we challenge traditionally hierarchical structures of film production in which primary authorship lies with the Director/Producer, by implementing dialogic methods of co-creation between filmmakers, researchers and participants. We explain how Bakhtin’s work on dialogism, chronotope, transgredience, polyphony and participative thinking provides the production and filmic tools and methods to host the distinct and equal voices of the South African creatives featured in the film - Zizipho Bam, Sindiswa Busuku, Haroon Gunn-Salie, and Dizu Plaatjies - maintaining throughout a sense of shared and equal investment in the project, and ethical responsibility to the collective. All That Is Buried shows the four participants discussing their work, ideas and experiences as they move between their homes, places of work, sites of inspiration, and artistic installation in and around Cape Town over the course of a day. In both process and product, we demonstrate how our co-creative methods support, and are supported by, practices of decolonial filmmaking, and provide a model useful and replicable for capturing Arts and Humanities research on film.

Citation

Tracey, M., Stanton-Sharma, S., Nivesjo, S., Barnes, E., & Munslow Ong, J. (2023). The Making of All That Is Buried: Dialog, Chronotope and Decoloniality. Journal of Media Practice, https://doi.org/10.1080/25741136.2023.2289095

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 26, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Dec 6, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 6, 2023
• Deposit Date: Nov 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2025
• Journal: Media Practice and Education
• Print ISSN: 1468-2753
• Electronic ISSN: 2574-1144
• Publisher: Intellect
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/25741136.2023.2289095
• Keywords: documentary filmmaking; Bakhtin; chronotope; decoloniality; South Africa; literature