How to become a social impact filmmaker?
How to become a social impact filmmaker?
Nyakallo Mokoena
Lina Srivaskava, a social innovation strategist from the United States, visited VUT on 8 June to speak to interested students about filmmaking and photography and how they can be used to highlight social issues.
She spoke about different projects run worldwide to do so which includes the works of Marc Silver, a film director.
He has created documentaries such as “The Invisibles” which tells stories of migrants who have gone through adversity in life. The documentary has created awareness of the human rights abuses that migrants suffer on their journeys towards a so-called better life in the United States.
Another project she mentioned was “Inocente” which is about a young Mexican immigrant who, despite being homeless and living in fear of being deported, continues to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. (She had a passion for painting and drawing and even used her own face as a canvas.)
Srivaskava spoke of the power of narratives and how they could be utilised in filmmaking. She also spoke about the different pictures they had compiled from still pictures and the different lighting used in each frame.
Srivaskava was here as a participant in the US Department of State’s American Film Showcase. This is a US government-sponsored programme that brings award-winning contemporary American documentaries, independent fiction films, and documentary know-how to audiences around the world, offering a view of American society and culture as seen by independent filmmakers.
Funded by a grant from the US State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and produced by the University of Southern Carolina’s School of Cinematic Arts (SCA), the showcase highlights the value of film in fostering understanding and cooperation, dialogue and debate.
At Aud 100 young uprising film and photography students were presented with an initiative aiming at creating not only awareness for socio economic issues that are faced on a daily basis. Communities facing such issues are given the chance to engage with photographers and film makers where they can apply action with the end result as change in order to better the community.
