‘They want to give us thinking’: the role of filmmaking in creating narratives around mobility and land in the Canton of Ambato, Ecuador

Abstract

It has been argued that the production of transport knowledges has been prone to urban domination and that mainly top-down and technocratic lenses are used. Echoing calls for an epistemological shift to include ‘other ways of knowing’, this article proposes Participatory Action Research Filmmaking as a way to ‘change the lenses’ and amplify narratives of mobility from liminal perspectives. The case used is a film contest in Ambato, Ecuador, entitled: ‘Between the Countryside and the City: stories of rural women’s transport’ that encouraged the participation of women and inhabitants of rural areas, who were assisted in creating a short documentary about their views on, and experiences with, transport. Results show bodies whose mobility is hindered by the burdens they carry but also empowered bodies that have a deep connection with the earth. Questions that arose relate to the extent women have agency in their mobility, to meanings attributed to mobility, and the limited relevance of transport mode when compared to the need to be transported ‘with dignity and autonomy’.