Art Refuge UK promo

This film is a short piece I produced on behalf of the British charity Art Refuge UK.  The charity works with refugee children and young people from Tibet.  The charity provides a much needed space for them to play and undertake art activities while they are in transit in Nepal and India.

The project was really rewarding and I engaged a group of young refugees in making the film which they really enjoyed doing.

Please watch the video to learn more about their work and visit their website to find out more about their activities here in the UK.  If you would like to learn more about why Tibetans flee to India click here.

Filming in India

In June I travelled to Nepal and India in order to film a documentary for my final project for my MA in International Journalism.  You will already have seen the montage of shots from Nepal and the trailer for the final documentary.  Now you can see a montage of other shots from my time in India.

It was a fascinating trip to the north of India – Dharamsala, which really appears to be a ‘mini Tibet’ – a unique area where a group of people have set up their own base in another country in order to retain it’s language and culture.

Enjoy!

Filming in Nepal

In June I travelled to Nepal and India in order to film a documentary for my final project for my MA in International Journalism.  The way the story went it was primarily shot in India but as I had taken some nice footage it seemed a waste to just leave it hidden in final cut pro!  So I have put together a short montage video with some of the nicest shots from this part of the trip.  Enjoy!

The final 3 PCDT films!

As you know I’ve been working on a commissioned project with production buddy Emma Fry and project photographer Daniel Holmes over the past 6 months.  Well – the project has come to an end!  After a break away whilst we were all off filming in exotic locations overseas we re-united in the edit suite for 6 more days and completed the 3 remaining films.  Enjoy and please leave us any comments or thoughts you have!

 

The day I met the Dalai Lama…

You may be wondering why I’ve been rather quiet on the blog and twitter front recently.  Well, here’s a teaser of what’s to come over the next month! Ok so I didn’t meet him, but I did hang out with him for his birthday!

I was fortunate enough to be in Dharamsala, India for the Dalai Lama‘s birthday (July 6th) and even more fortunate to gain a press pass!  It was an immense experience.  I have many photos and also footage from the day but as I don’t have time to put all of it up right now here is the moment I came pretty close to the Buddhist spiritual leader.

Short films for PCDT

I have been working on an external project for the last few months alongside my course in order to earn some money and develop my skills and portfolio.  The project was for a charity called the Penwith Community Development Trust in Penzance.  The task was to film and edit six short films.  It has been a huge undertaking alongside full time study but has been well worth all the hard work.  We have completed all the filming and editing of three of the films so far.  Take a look at the completed three and the accompanying blog and let us know your thoughts!

Work with BBC Spotlight: Olympic torch

So I have been selected to work alongside a BBC Spotlight camera man on Saturday 19th May to help cover the start of the Olympic torch relay in the UK.  I am very excited about the prospect despite having to start work at 6.45am!  University College Falmouth students were invited to express an interest in volunteering for the event to help conduct vox pops/interviews for them.  I of course jumped at the chance…after all why not – I’m in Cornwall, the Olympic torch is coming…it just makes sense!  I had been planning on going along anyway and doing my own filming so the chance to do it with the BBC instead was fantastic.

I was interviewed by the Producer and the Head of Current Affairs for the South West and we found out immediately.  Even better, we were told that we will be paid for the work and put on the BBC’s system as freelancer’s : )

On Friday I attended the Production safety training which all BBC staff have to complete which was a great insight into the type of training the BBC offers and included some interesting clips and tips on risk assessment.

Today I found out the route I will be taking on Saturday which includes Newlyn, Penzance, Falmouth and Trewoon and tomorrow I have my briefing so I’m ready to go!

Women of Egypt: bras, beatings and new beginnings

After 14 months of revolution and on the eve of the country’s first free Presidential elections, Catherine Feltham investigates whether Egypt’s women have carved a role for themselves in the country’s future.

Image: Lokha (Flickr)

Millions of people everyday listen to headphones as they walk around cities, transporting themselves to another world. Many do this to block out the traffic and bustle of city life or simply to relax. However, Habiba in Cairo uses it as a coping mechanism to “avoid hearing stupid or ugly things” shouted by men.

“A brave friend of mine insults back whoever insults her,” Habiba explains as she describes daily life in Egypt 14 months from the beginning of the revolution. “My female friends and I agreed that our levels of demands in terms of security when we walk in the streets are so low, we only don’t want any stranger to touch us. This includes even conservative, veiled girls.”

Habiba Mohsen is a political researcher and project coordinator for the Arab Forum for Alternatives, an organisation working towards developing a society in which democracy, civil society and human rights prevail through an academic and practical approach.

She is also an everyday woman who is experiencing the revolution and like millions, looks forward to a brighter future for women. Now Egypt is on the eve of its first free Presidential elections and all eyes are watching to see the outcome, especially for Egyptian women who have fought so hard to create a space for their voice.

Women were heavily active in the Arab Spring countries through social media, trade unions, post opposition parties, NGOs, informal networks and even on the streets. Egypt was no exception and the fight is ongoing. Women were on the front lines of the demonstrations being “beaten, sexually harassed and arbitrarily arrested by security forces,” remembers Habiba.

The 18 days of revolt from 25 January 2011 marked the start of the Egyptian story. Yes President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, but the old regime is still in power in the form of the military – the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Minky Worden, Human Rights Watch, explains the change in mood: “There’s a euphoria when you throw a dictator from office but that fairly quickly moves into a hard nosed assessment of what is next and what is your agenda for protecting rights.”

Desire for change and advancement in rights has been displayed by women, who have become victims of the transitional rule. A couple of incidents brought this to international attention. The ‘virginity tests’ following International Women’s Day, 8 March 2011, shocked audiences worldwide. One brave woman spoke out and filed a law case for sexual assault which she lost in March 2012. By doing so 25-year-old Samira Ibrahim accelerated women’s rights to the centre of the political scene and grabbed global interest.

The second major incident, known as ‘blue bra girl’ took place on 17 December 2011. Video footage swept across the web showing a girl being violently beaten along with her veil lifted to reveal her bra. Tweets and news articles from around the world condemned the shocking act and sparked international outrage and concern for respect and dignity for Egyptian women.

Nadje Al-Ali, Professor of gender studies at The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) describes the huge impact of these events: “If you compare International Women’s Day this year to last year, there were thousands of women there and lots of men in solidarity. In the run up to it there were lots of talk shows on television. I think there is much more recognition right now because of these two incidents, that women and gender issues are very important to what’s going on in Egypt.”

Despite this increased attention to women’s rights they have no representation within the SCAF and the recent parliamentary elections resulted in less than 3% of the 508 seats going to females. This indicates a gender power imbalance and highlights the challenge facing women to advocate for positive change.

The outlook for the forthcoming presidential campaign is similarly unpromising, with just one female candidate, Bothaina Kamel failing to gain backing from any major political party. With the rise of conservative groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi’s, many are questioning whether the revolution will advance women’s rights.

Nadje Al-Ali notes that the Brotherhood have no female parliamentary candidates and doesn’t personally feel that they are committed to women’s rights. The Brotherhood did not respond to our request for their views. Women activists have been a feature of Egyptian society for decades and Habiba adds: “Women cannot realistically share equal rights as men in a patriarchal society in the current situation in Egypt.” Minky Worden recognises the pivotal point the country has reached: “We are at a time of change when you could certainly see greater freedoms for girls and women but you could also see a roll back of established rights and freedoms…women don’t expect anyone will hand them their rights so I think they are fully prepared to fight, but they do need and deserve international support.”

International recognition of the Arab Spring movement has been evident by heavy media coverage. The United Nations (UN) has acknowledged the need for international support in the latest revision of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2012), which the UK and US have endorsed. A spokesperson at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We remain concerned that the progress made in recent years in improving women’s rights in Egypt is under threat. We shall be working with Egyptian human rights defenders to restore the momentum of improvements.” The Human Rights Watch is concerned that this rhetoric needs to be turned to action and that the UN itself needs to showcase women as negotiators by having more women in top leadership positions.

Another lady on the ground in Egypt who continues to play her own role in the revolution is lawyer Hafsa Halawa. She is less pessimistic: “Unlikewhat most report, the political influence and role of women in new Egypt hasn’t gotten worse than it was under Mubarak. Nonetheless, it hasn’t changed. Women are still in the same position they were before.” Hafsa believes that real change for women will continue to come from a grassroots level. She also highlights the need for a transparent impartial media as a key contributor to building a strong democracy so that those in power can be held to account. Women such as TV presenter Mona el-Shazly are already at the forefront of this movement.

Hafsa said: “Whilst there is much to lament over what hasn’t happened in Egypt since the uprising, it is important to focus on what has happened, and what is yet to happen. There is a great opportunity for the whole country, including its women, to move forward and succeed with this revolution, and I for one am very optimistic about the future, even if it may take longer than we envisaged.”

It is evident that many activists and onlookers do have hope for what lies ahead. Habiba similarly accepts that change is a very gradual process and that “women now have more space to be, act, express themselves, and even lead.” She does however see a need for a feminist movement with a clear agenda linked to the demands of the revolution.

Work experience with film team at Water Aid

As part of my MA International Journalism I am required to gain at least 3 weeks of work experience as it is a BJTC (Broadcast Journalism Training Council) accredited course.  I have so far completed one week with Heart radio and am one week into a two week placement with an International NGO called Water Aid.  Having worked in charities and NGOs I have long been interested in working for a film team within such an organisation so I made contact with Water Aid to see if they’d be willing to have me for a placement and to my delight they said yes!

The placement has been really enjoyable so far and has been a great insight into how an NGO film team operates and the type of work they take on.  This gives an overview of what I’ve been up to so far!

Day one

• Introduction to the film team and an overview of current projects
• Attended cross department meeting
• Introduction/overview of the media team and how they work
• Editing video interviews for the website of country representatives
• Burnt project dvds from a supporter trip

Day two

• Editing more video interviews for the website and feedback on first round
• Edits to a short film for an upcoming event at Anglian Water
• Learnt some new short cuts in final cut pro
• Meeting with photography officer. Learnt about the ethical policy and how they go about photography and film work.

Day three

• Editing more video interviews for the website
• Putting together B roll for media team to send to BBC to support the Water Aid country themed garden at this year’s Chelsea flower show
• Learnt to use compressor

Day four

• Finalised B roll for BBC
• Edited more interviews for the website
• Overview of the Communication Services team (branding and editorial)

Interesting facts learnt this week:
Through editing lots of country representative interviews I’ve learnt quite a bit about water and sanitation in countries around the globe as well as general background of the countries.  Here are some of the interesting things I discovered:

Burkino Faso

• 45% of the population lives on less than $1 a day
• Less than 10% of the urban population and less than 1% of the rural community have access to sanitation

Post conflict countries have added challenges such as security and moving from an emergency response to a development approach.

In Liberia and Sierra Leone many of the challenges in relation to water and sanitation relate to infrastructure and capacity.

Papua New Guinea

• Indicators show that its moving backwards
• There are 800+ languages spoken by a population of 6 million
• 80% of its population is rural
• There is no shortage of water, but the quality is a major challenge

Timor Leste became an independent country in 1999 (it was previously occupied by Indonesia).  After independence its water supply and roads were destroyed.

Ethiopia is Africa’s 4th largest and second most populous country. It is one of Water Aid’s oldest country programmes (since 1986).

There are 300 million people living across 16 countries in West Africa.  Of this 162-166 million have no access to sanitation and 88 million have no access to water.

One of the main points that struck me when listening to all the interviews from Asia and Africa was that girls are hugely impacted by lack of adequate water and sanitation.  They often have the role of collecting water and walk for miles to fulfil this.  They often miss out on education for this reason as well as the fact that many schools do not have toilet facilities.

Behind the scenes…editing Eden

We used Final Cut Pro to edit our Eden feature as luckily I have it on my personal computer.  I also wanted to practice on it as I’ve only edited once before on it for my Argentina glacier video.  It’s used by lots of professionals so I want to become competent at using it.

This gives you an insight into what it looks like!