|
|||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
workshop: borders
Media - video
Date: February 11, 17, 25 2007
Location: Kamel Youssef Jaber Social & Cultural Center - Marjayoun Branch
Facilitator: Rania Stephan
Participants: Amar Fayad, Diana Zreik, Silvana Keserwany, Georges Tawile, Pierre Nahra, Charbel Nahra
view the video "rope on fire" >>
Rania Stephan successfully engaged her participants into expressing their feelings about the "borders" in their lives - examining their literal and psychological space and barriers. From the first day, the students were encouraged to write down their feelings, and then verbalize them to the group. From the intense subsequent discussion, a central idea took hold for a collectively produced six-minute video to be filmed that week.
Each participant was charged with producing one minute of footage for the final film - the overall theme about the Spanish UNIFIL presence in their town - and guided through basic filmmaking techniques by Rania.
During their week of filming, some participants arranged to interview Spanish UNIFIL at their headquarters, while others filmed from afar or focused on their personal lives. Drawing together the footage cohesively proved challenging and time consuming for the collective team, but ultimately yielded great satisfaction at having produced a good first short.
"The main challenge," says instructor Rania Stephan, "was getting them to translate their emotions into footage." She also thought it difficult for the participants to express individual emotions instead of generalizing in speech - so was extremely impressed with their focus and growth in filmmaking creativity over a two-week span.
The workshop proved a resounding success, and the group will meet again to screen the final movie with a soundtrack added and rough edges polished. However, participant George Tawile spoke for all of them about a need for longer workshops in the future, to build on their skills and foster an intense working environment.
Lens on Lebanon donated a video camera to the Marjayoun center, which the participants enthusiastically adopted on a schedule-like basis ("like a library book" one said), and will give all a DVD copy of their film.
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||