Documentary Filmmaking Inspires a Return to Greece
Originally published in the 2024 issue of the School of Liberal Arts Magazine
In the summer of 2023, three Digital Media Practices (DMP) coordinate majors — Kalina Kula (SLA ’25), Natalie Maher (SLA ’24), and Alana Witting (SLA ’25) — traveled to Greece for a study abroad program in environmental media productions, where they created a documentary-style marketing video for their community service partner, Ecogenia.
The students were so moved by their experience that after encouragement from Casey Beck, they decided to research and apply for grant funding. They were awarded a Gordon Summer Fellowship from Newcomb-Tulane College, allowing them to return to Greece last summer for a new project — a documentary-style advocacy film, produced in partnership with Mudhouse Residency in Crete, which was released in October. They sat down with Beck to discuss how mentorship and networking opened the doors for their continued film work.
BECK: What about your first program motivated you to create this new project, apply for a grant, and go back to Greece to work with Mudhouse?
WITTING: After learning how to create and how to piece together these stories, I thought it would be an even greater experience to do it on our own.
MAHER: There’s something really valuable in working with nonprofits, and that is what led us to this project with Mudhouse. We felt very connected to Greece, its history and the cultural heritage, and how much pride the people there have for the country, and felt drawn to go back.
KULA: The culture was so visible, and you could actually feel it the whole time. International work was so enticing because the Greek lifestyle was magnetic. And the whole time we were there we’re thinking how impassioned all of the leaders of the program were.
BECK: What have you learned through your experience that you’ve been able to incorporate into your work?
MAHER: There were moments when we were shooting at Mudhouse where we were figuring out if we need to have people sign talent releases. And in my head, I heard you saying, “You really should.” Or how you place a lavalier microphone and set up interview questions.
KULA: There was a lot of adapting on the go and learning the struggles of using equipment and producing in the field, not just the classroom — and that’s how you learn. I also took a class last semester called Decolonizing the Camera, and it taught me how to ask questions about consent in filmmaking because these are real people whose stories you’re telling. That’s something I brought to this project and something that is really hard to learn just in the classroom.
BECK: How has working with DMP professors impacted your academic, and ultimately your career goals? After all, that’s what we are trying to do: prepare you for life after graduation.
WITTING: I think a big thing was working with women who I feel like I can see myself in. It’s a very male-dominated world so it’s really cool to have those examples in our professors and with Mudhouse. Seeing examples of women who are doing the work inspired us to believe we could do it too.
KULA: We were able to take what we learned in class and apply it to an actual project for a real client. That’s not something a lot of students get to do. We were getting real-world experience by creating something that was going to be viewed and helpful to Mudhouse.
MAHER: I’ve always liked writing and conducting written interviews, but the Ecogenia trip made me realize how much I like documentary work and talking to people. There’s so much value in documenting people and places, especially in the increasingly visual society and culture that we live in. It goes far beyond the written word. And even beyond filmmaking, DMP gave me opportunities to meet people and make connections. My experiences with Ecogenia and then Mudhouse taught me a lot about staying in touch: people remember you, and the work you do for them, and those relationships can last.
