Fogo (A Process), 2020

Fogo (A Process) is a documentation of nature and subtle human interventions in the landscape, coasts and waters around Little Fogo Island: filmed partly from the viewpoint of a fishing boat looking back to the island and partly from inside St. Anne’s Church, built by missionaries in 1873, its bell historically used to guide fishermen safely into the harbour in foggy weather.

The title of this piece refers to ‘The Fogo Process’, a legendary community filmmaking project in the late 1960s fostered by The National Film Board of Canada (NFB)’s ‘Challenge for Change’ programme, using film to promote community collaboration and social change. Filmmaker Colin Low documented life on Fogo in 27 short films that were screened across the island, leading to a shared understanding among the islanders of the challenges linked to the collapse of the inshore fishery. This eventually inspired local fishers and plant workers to form the Fogo Island fishing Co-op, which is still central to the island’s economy today.

In 2019, the NFB agreed to let Dawood use original clips from Low’s short films for his 10 episode film project The Leviathan Cycle. Taking the notions of community collaboration and sustainability into the practice of filmmaking, Dawood used the original clips from Low’s short films in exchange for Super8 film he shot during a visit to Fogo Island in October 2018, which is now stored in the NFB archives.