Help Make a Film about this years World Social Forum

national | miscellaneous | news report Saturday December 07, 2002 20:26 by R.J. rj at riseup dot net

Seeking participants, contributors, etc. to be part of a video project around the World Social Forum 2003 coming up in January.

A growing group of us are making a documentary around this years World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brasil--the project description is provided below. Since the description below was written, alot of people throughout the americas have become part of the project but we would like to have some people outside of the americas at the core of the project--directing and reflecting.

Are you interested in being part of the video crew? No video-making experience is necessary--and preference will be given to under-represented videographers and voices. For these folks, most expenses while in brasil for the shoot will be covered--unfortunately, the plane ticket is out of our range.

There is also room for anyone interested to play a support role in the making of the documentary: providing equipment and technical expertise, access to resources, setting up interviews or doing research, etc. Also, if you have participated in one of the regional or thematic forums that have emerged since the first WSF in January 2001, please get in touch.

As the WSF is quickly approaching, time is of the essence!

In Solidarity, R.J. ( get in touch at [email protected] )

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Caminho para às Índias

The objective of Caminho para às Índias (working title) is to produce a documentary video of about one hour in length about the 2003 World Social Forum (WSF) being held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Since the first WSF was held at the beginning of 2001, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have organized and participated in social forums focused on a variety of themes and regions. Our aim is to explore and participate in the social forum process at this unique point in its development—as this will be the last time that the annual WSF will be held in its birthplace of Porto Alegre, Brazil before moving on to be hosted in other locales, i.e. Hyderabad, India in 2004. Shooting will begin on the 20th of January 2003 and conclude on the 30th. In order to contextualize this event, footage from the New York City Social Forum in New York City, U.S.A. as well as other social forums will be used.

The project will be modeled on the video-diary form and will be a collaborative effort that is concerned not only with documenting the WSF itself but also with capturing the particular reactions of members of the video crew to the WSF. In this way, we intend to create a single document that describes a mosaic of perspectives on the social forum process and that breaks down the superficial binaries of political vs. personal, observer vs. observed.

With this in mind, the crew is being assembled from individuals with diverse interests and backgrounds. The current crew includes Kevin Brown, a video-maker from Chattanooga, Tennessee who has been researching for the Cinema/Contra/Cinema project for the past 5 months in Brazil, Tsereto Tsahobo, a video-maker who has been working in Terra Indigena, Sangradouro, his home, exploring themes which directly relate to him and his fellow Xavante, and R.J. Maccani, an anti-authoritarian activist and former union organizer who is currently at work producing a segment about the New York City Social Forum. Such diversity is important for we take as one of our themes the problem of difference itself, or the minority, and the minority within the minority, i.e. Brazil in the global political economy and the Xavante within Brazilian politics.

To realize this project, our tools may be basic but need be varied. The concentrated nature of the WSF will require that we record with more than one camera at once. An autonomous sound engineer will be necessary to capture quality interviews. A still photographer will be required to capture images and to function as a second sound engineer when necessary. All members of the crew will assist in the preparation of interviews and the planning of shots. Our crew will be eclectic and composed of individuals capable of performing various tasks and working with varied equipment when necessary. All members of the crew will be incorporated at all levels of decision-making.

To shoot this project it will be necessary to rent at least two digital video recorders and one autonomous sound recorder, microphone and headphones, the purchase of both audio and video tapes as well as still film. Other expenses include travel to and 10 days stay in Porto Alegre for the five-person crew and travel from Terra Indigena, Mato Grosso for Tsereto Tsahobo.

Production

Eleusa
1411 Thrasher Pike
Hixson, TN 37343
U.S.A.
[email protected]

Sponsorship

Entreter
Rua Dr. Vila Nova, 216
Sao Paulo, Brasil
(11)3214-5292
www.associacaoentreter.hpg.com.br
[email protected]