Civic Entertainment is a project based at the Center for Civic Media that explores the intersection of civic engagement with film, television, radio, theatre, literature, and digital entertainment. The project aims to study the modes in which entertainment can create greater knowledge of public institutions, motivate citizens towards democratic duties, and present effective strategies of social and political change.
The research focuses on studying the ways in which fiction media can affect change in thought and behavior, develops case studies of past and existing films and television shows that reflect or carry elements of civic engagement, explores the representation of protest and activism in popular culture, and experiments with techniques to balance civic education with humor or drama within entertainment.
The project has a key focus on Indian entertainment and works with Civic Studios (www.civicstudios.com), a Mumbai-based production firm, on creating civic entertainment content for young people across India.