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Groups as a Medium of Self-Discovery

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April 2, 2022 by muthag

This clip from the film The Education of Auma Obama contains found footage from Auma’s days studying in Germany. In this footage, she is dancing with a group to instrumental music. At the beginning of the clip, the frame is focused on Auma as she is dancing. As the scene continues, it slowly zooms out to a long shot of the entire group dancing together. The scene then cuts to a medium shot of present-day Auma in which she is reflecting on her days dancing in Germany: “we collected and put together all these different dance forms that represented different cultures and different peoples.” Focusing on Auma in the beginning demonstrates that she is an individual who represents one identity. When zooming out, we see how the individuals are synced together collectively. This represents how different peoples and cultures do not have to be divided, but instead can come together to create beauty and harmony. In addition, the technique also reflects Auma’s self-discovery journey. At the beginning of her journey, she is unsure of her personal identity, but after seeing herself in relation to others, she comes to the realization that she has the power to identify strongly with her African culture. The dancers are a melting pot of different cultures much like Auma’s identity is a melting pot of different cultural influences. Ultimately this shows that self-identity can be discovered by gaining knowledge of other identities and cultures. Overall, the zoom technique assists in emphasizing that multiple individuals have the ability to use differences to create something new and unique as a group.


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