The Manabí project: participatory video in rebuilding efforts after the earthquake

This paper analyses three short films to identify instances of Margolin's proposed theoretical frameworks when using Participatory Video in the aftermath of a disaster: Interpretative Interactionism, Community Narratives as Community Resources, and Sense of Community. Participatory Video sessions were conducted only eight weeks after a 7.8 earthquake hit the Ecuadorian coastal city of Manta, resulting in three final videos that served as input to study their intertextualities in comparison with the proposed concepts. Although Margolin's initial recommendations focus solely on children and youth, this article argues that its application can be effective in nurturing agency, developing shared narratives and encouraging a deeper sense of community in disaster environments regardless of age, as portrayed in the resulting videos.