Security, Growth and Continuity of FaOC
Origins of FaOC
Film as Augmentative Communication (FaOC) has been continuously present as a working method, research method, and communication tool since 1995. The foundation was laid in Curaçao, where Mascha Legel used participatory video to allow children and young people to film their own stories and experiences. This core—taking control, creating your own images, and making your own story visible—remained central to every project, research project, and collaboration from that moment on.
From 1995 onward, FaOC evolved from an anthropological practice into a recognizable and recurring methodology in which images become a means of communication for people who encounter limitations through language, structure, or social interaction. Over the years, FaOC remained visible in schools, neighborhoods, rehabilitation centers, research teams, and studios, always recognizable by the same principles: ownership, visibility, autonomy, and shared understanding through images.
Between 2010 and 2018, this practical experience was scientifically researched and theoretically substantiated. With the establishment of the Com in Beeld Foundation (2015) and the opening of Studio Com in Beeld, the method was permanently secured in a permanent organization and location. Since 2015, the studio has also been a recognized SBB internship company, where FaOC is visible daily in the way young people work, learn, communicate, and participate.
Through structural collaboration with the Milo Foundation, Radboud University, the BOOR Foundation, and the Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam, FaOC has gained a permanent position within education, research, and practice. This has led to the development of a continuous learning pathway that supports young people in communication, media, participation, and professional growth.
FaOC is therefore not a project, but a continuously present, recognizable, and evolving methodology, visible in development, practice, and results for over twenty-five years.
Brief Timeline – FaOC (with an emphasis on continuity since 199
1995 – Launch of participatory video in Curaçao
Beginning of FaOC: young people film their own stories. The basic principles emerged and have remained in place ever since.
1998 – Master's thesis on Crete & establishment of Etnos Film
Further development of film as a communication tool and research method. FaOC becomes visible in education, research, and documentary practice.
2007 – Collaboration with the Milo Foundation
FaOC is applied to clients with various support needs; the methodology becomes established within healthcare and rehabilitation.
2010 – Launch of the research project "My Film, My Story"
Official scientific development; FaOC becomes increasingly visible within education and therapy.
2010–2015 – National implementation
Application at 18 special education (SO/VSO) schools and affiliated rehabilitation centers. FaOC becomes a recognizable working method for students, therapists, and teachers.
2012–2018 – Scientific anchoring
Research by Mascha Legel, Stijn Deckers, Ronald Spanjers, Prof. Hans van Balkom, and Prof. Bert Steenbergen.
FaOC becomes an evidence-based methodology.
2015 – Com in Beeld Foundation & Com in Beeld Studio
Structural organization, physical location, and daily visibility of FaOC.
Studio has been a recognized SBB internship company since 2015.
2015 – Launch of Cam on Wheels
Professional studio environment connecting FaOC with media skills and talent development.
2018 – Collaboration with BOOR Foundation
FaOC is embedded in educational programs; structural visibility within schools.
From 2018 – Embedded within CSR and continuous learning pathways (Graphic Lyceum Rotterdam)
FaOC becomes part of CSR profiles, electives, and internships, ensuring continuity and future prospects.