Output details

Justin

Justin (2011) is a thirty-minute documentary about memory, memorializing and the contemporary politics of sport based on the ‘Justin’ Campaign to combat homophobia in football. The research aims of this practice-based output were: 1) to investigate the limits and possibilities of the often-didactic ‘campaign documentary’ form; and 2) to develop documentary practice as an innovative form of Media and Cultural Studies research praxis situated within political action. The first aim was pursued through an audio-visual strategy intended to reveal a politics of ‘affect’ and to construct an ambiguous and emotionally resonant documentary, for example by interlacing naïve protesters struggling to make an impact with the heartfelt memories of those close to Fashanu of him as footballer, uncle, lover or friend. Contrary to the conventions of mainstream documentaries, the effectiveness of the protesters and the veracity of the testimonies are secondary to emotional impact. The second research aim was carried out through developing a critically-reflexive form of activism. Justin the film in effect ‘produced’ the Justin Campaign (not vice-versa): the campaign emerged from the search for a narrative framework for Fashanu’s suicide. The film is not just a representation of a campaign but is a constitutive part of a politics of affect central to the campaign, and an intervention into the cultural politics of sport that seeks to simultaneously provoke discussion of homophobia while contributing to social change. Screened at many international film festivals (including Frameline in San Francisco, USA), campaign meetings (including Birmingham LGBT Pride in Sports) and academic conferences (including the American Sociological Association), Justin has raised the profile of the campaign. It has informed challenges to the stereotyping and stigmatisation of gay athletes, e.g. the official support given by the Football Association to the annual week of action against homophobia in football, a Justin Campaign initiative.