austraLasia #2666
Films by the young for the young
PARIS, SIHANOUKVILLE... : 24 June 2010 -- There is an
interesting development around the traps as Salesian education works
more and more with the native digital skills of young people today and
particularly their visual and kinetic skills, which come together, in a
certain way, around an older but now much more available art of video
production. We already know of a number of Salesians, especially in the
English-speaking world, but not only, who are making a name for
themselves as film directors. Now, it seems, the day is not far off
when it will be one or more Salesian pupils or recent past pupils, who
will join that select band.
Two experiences in particular: one from our region
the other from the West Europe Region. Let's begin with the
latter.
For a number of years now France (FRB) has been
running what it calls a Festiclip. This is an annual event and
brings young video-makers together from around the Province for a
particular purpose: young people addressing a message to other young
people via video. Festiclip, which runs over a number of days, awards
ten prizes, some decided by a team of judges set up for the purpose,
the rest by the young people themselves.
While some knowledge of French helps to understand
the message, the films themselves 'speak' in their own language. Why
not go and take a look at this excellent collection of pedagogical
material. I could give you the direct link but this time, go to
www.sdb.org and switch (using FR) to the French home page; scroll down
to the box which says 'Monde Digital SDB' and click on 'des films pour
les jeunes...'. Incidentally, we at sdb.org have 'handed over' this box
to Communications Delegates in every province - at least those who ask
to use it have a right to use it for thier own purposes under certain
guidelines. It is being enthusiastically taken up and we are now
looking at handing over certain other functions of the site to the
Salesian world.
The other experience is from our own Region and
emanates from a very active and creative Communications Faculty in
Sihanoukville where Colombian born Salesian, missionary in THA province
but specifically in Cambodia, is using the video medium for something
very similar. He is the first to admit that one of the
difficulties is that everyone involved, himself included, is working in
a language foreign to them (English) to reach a wider audience, and
that they are still in the infancy stage with this enterprise - but
'Boscoliwood' as they call it locally, is beginning to make a name for
itself.
There are two types of vide under production at the
moment. As with Don Bosco Atelier Multimedia in France, one group
are messages of young people to young people, where they tackle social
issues. Another set is cultural - for example the videos on Angor
Watt Temple. But let's hear what they have to say about
themselves:
Sihanoukville (DonBosco Khmer). Borah is a good boy: he
respects his parents and studies very much. But Seiha and Ro, no. They
surround Borah with invitations that will lead the boy in another
direction,
drugs, a nightmare that makes him another person, far from
the respect of parents and a love for books. A cold and
friendless court send him to prison. What is going to happen when Borah
comes out of that gloomy place? These kind of stories are the ones that
the students of the Don Bosco Audiovisual Center are telling in their
movie lessons.
The stories must be set in the Cambodian
context,
showing Khmer traditions and cultural environment, while
addressing
modern problems.
'In
the beginning I feel shy to play Ro, because he is quite opposite to
what I am...' said Sophal, 20, 'but
I remember that our small productions are for teaching children and
young people to follow only good examples, like obey the parents and
study,' he
adds.
One of the scenes with most impact is when Borah meets his
parents in prison. The boy cries when faced with the fact that it seems
impossible for his
mother to do something for him.
'This
is the scene we repeated most,' explains Rotah, 18, 'because we
wanted it very real. We use menthol in the eyes and I cried like a
baby,' he
says laughing.
The program of social communication and journalism
is already in its third generation. The audiovisual studios, destroyed
one year ago by fire, were rebuilt thanks to foreign
benefactors as a space for the students to develop skills in
communication. It is possible to find the videos in the
Vimeo Journalism Online channel
in what is already known inside Don Bosco Sihanoukville as the
Boscoliwood (
http://vimeo.com/channels/114810)
The subtitling in English is not the best and audio should be improved,
but this is a first experience.
_________________
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