SOCIODRAMA

SOCIODRAMA is a docu-fiction short film thesis project for the Global Bachelors in Film Arts program at Paris College of Art and Emerson College, directed by Quintana Jones, and shot by Martin Li.

The film brings together seven individuals who have all lost a loved one to suicide for a three-day gathering in a large house on the outskirts of Paris. Through a sociodrama, they will explore the roles we play in life and performance, transforming personal experiences into a shared, collective narrative. This project pushes the boundaries between documentary and fiction

In 1982, Edgar Morin—anthropologist, filmmaker, and key figure in the cinema-vérité movement—suggested that film, at its most powerful, should function as a sociodrama for the cast, crew, and audience. This film aims to put that theory to the test.

What is Sociodrama?

Sociodrama is a form of dramatic therapy that explores collective experiences and cultural issues rather than individual struggles. Instead of focusing on a single protagonist, the group itself becomes the main character. The process follows three key phases:

Warm-up – Exercises to encourage movement, breath work, and spontaneous expression. This part of the film focuses on capturing gesture as a sculptural presence of a group.

Action – Role-play enactments that transform personal trauma into shared performance. Here the documentary and fiction elements intertwine, as reenactments blend many personal experiences into a single narrative, or scene that will be created by the collective and reworked as a dramatic piece.

Reflection – A space to process the experience, drawing meaning from the enactments. This element uses testimony and interview as a basis for creating the film in editing.

Sociodrama allows participants to step beyond habitual roles, envision alternate versions of themselves, and engage in public intimacy—where individual grief becomes part of a larger, collective response.

How Will This Be Captured on Film?

A defining feature of cinema-vérité is the camera’s participatory observation—reacting in real time to the movements and emotions unfolding on screen. This film will be shot with two cameras, emphasising physicality and kinetic energy between the participants and crew.

During the warm-up phase, the camera will focus on breath, movement, and gesture, evolving into more structured role-play exercises. The crew will follow a flexible shooting plan, balancing spontaneity with intentional framing to capture both individual moments and the group dynamic.

Why make this film?

There is a lot going on in the world, a lot of suffering and people that need funds and support. The question has been posed as to why this needs to be a film at all, instead of a gathering or performance. This film won’t change or fix the losses we have faced and are facing, but it is an effort to push filmmaking’s ability to act as a sanctuary and tool. Suicide comes from, and causes deep isolation. Having experienced this particular grief; the hope of this film is to take everything and everyone as it comes, in it's complexity, irony, humour and darkness. Regardless of limitations, your donation will allow a young artist to test these waters and create an environment for others in a similar situation to experience the benefits of creation.

What will the money be used for?

Here is a budget estimate breakdown:

Location rental: 1000 euros

Stipend for cast: 700 euros

Cooking supplies for 3 days: 600 euros

festival applications: 500 euros

currency conversion and incidentals: 500 euros

cast and crew transportation to location: 300 euro

equipment transportation: 200 euros

make-up and set dec: 200 euros

Sincerest thanks to any and all contributions to making this film happen.

Refrences and Photo Credits:

1. Frances Chiaverini, Josh Johnson, Eliza Douglas, Ian Edmonds, Mickey Mahar, Enad Marouf, Jakob Eilinghoff, Billy Bultheel in Anne Imhof, ‘Sex’, 2019, Tate Modern, London // Photography: Nadine Fraczkowski, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York

2. Tatjana Dragicevic, Nina Batinic, Lucia Filicic, Jana Mileusnic, Morana Mladic, in Nebojša Slijepčević, 'Srbenka', 2018, Restart Films, Croatia // Shot by: Bojan Mrdenovic

3. Hossain Sabzian, Mahrokh Ahankhah, Monoochehr Ahankhah in Abbas Kairostami 'Close-Up', 1990, Kanoon and Celluloid Dreams, Iran and Persia // Shot by: Ali Reza Zarrindast