The People’s Library
Over the course of a full academic year, filmmaker Jon Drever worked weekly with a group of university students on the Digital Media Degree at Bodmin College, with additional sessions for three younger participants from the school.
“What began as an idea for a single feature documentary evolved into something much more personal, and much more rooted in learning and youth voice.”
The project gradually shifted away from a traditional production model and into a more education-focused process, where the young people were not simply observing, but leading.
The result is a collection of nine short documentaries, conceived, filmed, and edited by the students themselves. Each film begins with an introduction by its maker, offering a glimpse into their inspiration and approach. The subjects are as wide-ranging as the town itself: a hillfort next to someone’s house, the evolving role of the local church, graffiti as folk legend, or the relationship between pubs and community life.
Thank you to all the contributors who were so generous with their time.
““I found the multiple artefacts very interesting and also the clips on the video interviews - really informative... And there’s a lot I’ve learned about Bodmin since watching them.””
