Seen for Who I Am – Co-Creative Documentary Filmmaking with Children with severe illness

The documentary film project "Seen for Who I Am" began in 2023 with the aim of giving children with severe illness tools to express their sense of self. The project centres on artistic processes to identify and respond to the needs of the children and their families. It was carried out by Wik & Partby: Annika Wik, PhD, film scholar and knowledge developer through culture, board member of the Swedish Film Institute, and Lisa Partby, documentary filmmaker.

The project is funded by Region Stockholm’s Innovation Fund and is a collaboration between the Competence Centre for Culture and Health at the Region Stockholm’s Culture Administration and the Hospital-Linked Advanced Paediatric Home Care service (SABH).

Implementation 

The first stage of the process identified needs among the child, the family, and the healthcare providers. Cinematographer Lisa Partby co-created documentary films together with two children, who gained a new channel of communication for expressing emotions and thoughts. They were given tools that enabled them to communicate their experiences in ways that felt relevant and safe to them. 

Project goals 

• Enable children to independently capture and express their feelings through sound, images, and music using simple tools.
• Safeguard children’s right to self-expression in line with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Reduce ethical stress for healthcare staff.
• Create more person-centred care in which both children and care providers can grow and develop.