The Rural Racism Project

Feel Good Films partnered with the Centre for Hate Studies at the University of Leicester to create a film for The Rural Racism Project: Towards an Inclusive Countryside.

The project presented an important creative challenge: how do you translate complex academic research around racism, belonging and identity into a film that audiences don’t just understand, but genuinely feel?

Our role was to bring the research to life through cinematic, emotive and human-led storytelling, while approaching its highly sensitive subject matter with the care and respect it deserved.

Bringing Research to Life

We worked closely with the University team to understand the research, its findings and, most importantly, the lived experiences behind it.

Rather than creating a traditional research film, we developed a visually led story centred around real voices. The film follows three people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds living in rural England, alongside testimony from research participants.

Through their experiences, the film explores the realities of racism in rural communities and its impact on people’s sense of identity, safety and belonging. Cinematic imagery and personal storytelling help make the research accessible and emotionally resonant for audiences beyond academia.

Throughout the production, our priority was to balance creative impact with sensitivity and authenticity, giving contributors the space to share their experiences while ensuring the research remained at the heart of the narrative.

Research with a Human Face

The finished film demonstrates how filmmaking can take important academic research beyond reports and data, connecting audiences with the real people and lived experiences behind the findings.

By placing authentic voices at its centre, The Rural Racism Project transforms complex research into a powerful human story designed to encourage understanding, conversation and meaningful change.

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