This paper investigates how an audiovisual tool can be used as an original feedback instrument for a participatory experience. It explores the use made of two films during a citizens’ forum on water management: an institutional film, and a research film. Attention is drawn to what the process of putting an event into film does to citizens’ voices. The paper also explores the use of film as support for actors’ reflections on their own practices. The analysis takes place as part of a broader reflection on the role of films in the (re)definition of the power relationships at work in participatory processes.