Big stories, small towns: Murray Bridge and Raukkan

Big Stories, Small Towns is a transmedia documentary project (www.bigstories.com.au). This iteration of the project was initiated in 2011 and was based in the towns of Murray Bridge and Raukkan in South Australia. The project seeks to describe multi-layered communities and explore complex relations between people, social backgrounds, technology and place. The question that framed this iteration of the project was: "What are the most effective techniques for practitioners developing and delivering facilitated participatory digital media projects within an institutional context?" While a level of interconnectivity has always underpinned storytelling within communities, shifting global dynamics and new mediums that constitute what Appurdai (2001) calls the mediascape allow for an alternative examination of multi-layered communities and the complex relations between people, social backgrounds, technology/media and place. ‘Big Stories’ move fluidly and organically across this mediascape. They are shown locally through exhibitions and screenings. They are shown to other towns to inspire connection and creativity. They are ‘local stories with global impact’ (Potter, 2009) through their distribution via festivals, broadcast partners and on the bigstories.com.au website. The research, embodied in the stories produced within this iteration of the project, illustrates how the stories might be disseminated, but also showcases the process and values that underpin the production of the participatory, digital media. In 2011 with the financial support of Screen Australia’s National Documentary Program, the South Australian Film Corporation, Country Arts South Australia, Murray Bridge Council and Raukkan Council the Big Stories, Small Towns team (Martin Potter, Jeni Lee, Sieh Mchawala, Anna Grieve) worked in the towns of Murray Bridge and Raukkan in South Australia to create films, photo essays and a range of other media including an exhibition at the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery. The project premiered at the 2012 Adelaide Film Festival, the Australian International Documentary Conference, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, DocFest UK and over 20 other international film festivals. In 2012 the project was the first Australian winner of an award at South x South West (SXSW) – winning Community Champion.