Lou Boshart, Xiaohui Liu, and Sarah Noordeloos winners of the Metje Postma Awards
Metje Postma Awards image: Koen Suidgeest
Lou Boshart won the Excellence in Visual & Multimodal Ethnography Thesis Prize for his film ‘Layers of Confidence’. Lou produced a multimodal thesis about the way rat catchers in New Zealand enact conservation policies and reflect on the ethical challenges of eradicating invasive species. Xiaohui Liu and Sarah Noordeloos came away as winners of the Multimodal Incentive Grant for Alumni of the Metje Postma Awards. Both of their projects look at human relations with the sea and seek to enact community-driven projects.
On the closing night of LUVE Fest, the Masters' graduation film festival for Visual Ethnography students, juries announced the winners of the Metje Postma Awards - the Excellence in Visual & Multimodal Ethnography Thesis Prize and the Multimodal Incentive Grant for Alumni.
Layers of Confidence
Across Wellington, New Zealand, an extensive network of traps and cameras monitor the city’s rat population. Introduced by humans, the rats now dominate and put pressure on the native birdlife and ecosystem. Predator Free Wellington has set out to eradicate them completely. To do this the program depends on digital sensors and monitoring devices that translate rat activity into streams of data. The film ‘Layers of Confidence’ explores how this technological network mediates human–rat relations and the agency it holds in producing knowledge. The film invites viewers to sit with the tension of killing and conservation.
The jury appreciated Lou Boshart’s selection of an interesting topic, effective storytelling, and an original lens that reflects anthropological thinking. They remarked that ‘Layers of Confidence’ is an entertaining film with humorous moments, while nonetheless addressing a serious and contentious topic. Importantly, the film raises challenging ethical questions at the heart of conservation efforts. The protagonists reflect deeply on the dilemma of killing some animals to save others. The jury notes that the methods used showcase confidence in Visual Ethnography. They highlighted in their comments the opening scene where the ethnographer enters the woods with the rat catchers and their highly trained dogs, as the viewer follows the camera as it lowers down to the dog’s eye level seeking their target. They note Lou’s confidence utilizing observational scenes that attend to the nuanced way rat catchers do their work and make sense of its importance. They were struck by the effective inclusion of the rat catchers’ surveillance camera footage and the ending of the film that featured a brilliant elicitation session in which two protagonists reflect on the film’s representation of their work.
The jury for the thesis prize, comprised of Sanderien Verstappen, Eddy Appels, and Ildikó Plájás, three visual anthropologists who have worked or trained with Metje Postma. To decide on a winner, they reflected on the legacy of Metje Postma as a researcher, filmmaker, and teacher to identify four key characteristics in her work:
- Research: ethnographic research lies at the heart of the project, meaning that the researcher learned something through the process of filmmaking.
- Rapport: the film builds on a relationship of trust with the research subjects who are portrayed in a respectful and careful manner
- Cinematography: treating image-making as a craft, using deliberate camera work that shows close attention to what unfolds.
- Reflexivity: the anthropologist’s presence and connection to the subject matter and protagonists is acknowledged in the film.
Metje Postma was joined by Mark Westmoreland to jury the proposals for the Multimodal Incentive Grant for Alumni. This year, they were impressed by the quality of the proposals, so they offered grants to two promising multimodal ethnographers.
Between Waves
Xiaohui Liu’s project seeks to unite traditional ecological knowledge and scientific perspectives on seagrass in the coastal fishing communities of China’s Shandong Province. Xiaohui highlights how fishermen possess a remarkable ability to read and interpret subtle environmental cues: distinguishing seagrass species, predicting tides and coastal weather, and even anticipating fish migration patterns—all through their close, lived relationship with the seagrass ecosystem. Scientists, while employing advanced methods for coastal ecosystem conservation, frequently fail to recognise this rich, experiential understanding. This project aims to foster a reciprocal dialogue between the two perspectives. The jury appreciates the thoughtful and creative approach Xiaohui brings to this project—particularly how it extends beyond traditional documentary filmmaking by not only documenting the knowledge of these fishermen on film, but also creating pathways for them to share that knowledge with scientific communities.
Turning the Tide: From Nets to Nature
Building on her previous master’s research among fishermen and fishmongers in Axim, Ghana, Sarah Noordeloos proposed an engaging and highly relevant project that addresses the prevalence of plastic pollution in Ghana’s coastal communities. Leveraging the relationships she has already established, Sarah aims to collaborate with the Net Free Seas initiative to introduce a program where illegal plastic fishing nets can be exchanged as part of an effort to introduce more sustainable solutions. The jury considered this a promising research project for the way the topic emerged from Sarah’s earlier fieldwork in the targeted fishing community and felt the project has a realistic chance of offering a meaningful and relevant contribution to the community itself.
In addition to the prize money, Xiaohui and Sarah will receive mentorship from Metje Postma, who notes that what stands out in both projects is the ability to combine a valuable ethnographic core and a robust social dimension.
Metje Postma Awards
To honour Metje Postma's long-standing commitment to students specialising in visual ethnography during their Masters studies, the Metje Postma Fund supports two annual awards: the Excellence in Visual Ethnography Thesis Prize, which recognises outstanding work by LUVE Masters students, and the Multimodal Incentive Grant for Alumni, which supports those who wish to further develop their ethnographic research using multimodal methods and results.
Banner image made by Koen Suidgeest.