Brewing Knowledge: Filmmaking as Research in Experimental Archaeology

Drunk? Adventures in sixteenth Century Brewing is a research-based film produced within the ERC-funded FoodCult project (2019–2025). Developed in collaboration with historians, archaeologists, craftspeople, scientists, and filmmakers, the film follows the reconstruction of a sixteenth-century beer through experimental archaeology. The film was conceived, from the outset of the project, as a mode of inquiry, with filmmaking shaping how the reconstruction was interpreted and communicated. This article examines the film as creative practice research, focusing on three dimensions: radical interdisciplinarity, where cinematic and editorial decisions brought different forms of expertise into dialogue; materiality, where framing and sound design highlighted tools, ingredients, and environments as co-actors in the reconstruction; and embodiment, where the camera conveyed tacit skills, sensory awareness, and affective responses. Audience reception, gathered through questionnaires, Q&A discussions, and teaching contexts (cited as pers. comm.), is considered alongside close analysis of the filmmaking to evaluate the project’s dialogical and pedagogical value. We show that filmmaking can operate as a research method in its own right, generating historical insights, facilitating interdisciplinary exchange, and extending the reach of historical inquiry to wider publics.

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