In November 2022 the Society for Ethnomusicology launched the Journal of Audiovisual Ethnomusicology (JAVEM), a bi-annual peer-reviewed streaming journal of ethnomusicological film and video. The journal aims to advance the use of multimedia as a method for exploring music and its entanglements, and as a medium for presenting those explorations.
JAVEM provides a viable public platform for ethnomusicological films. A public-facing venue for film screenings and multimedia installations, it gives scholar-filmmakers opportunities to reach new audiences, engage more diverse stakeholders in research topics and issues, and partner with organizations beyond the academy, building a structure for scholarly engagement with current research, theoretical perspectives, and filmmaking strategies in ethnomusicology and related fields.
Below, Frank Gunderson, one of JAVEM’s founders and co-editors, shares a filmmaking anecdote.