We will go over common pitfalls, learn the relevant theory and lingo, and cover practical topics including how to write creative briefs and risk assessments, and when and how to coordinate bigger productions (narrative, longer documentary) as well as video techniques for social media.

Arete is the expert humanitarian storytelling agency for non-profits and NGOs, working with award-winning journalists and content specialists to help tell stories that make a difference.

This workshop is part of a series being run in partnership with Arete. To find out more about their other workshops, click here.

Arete is the expert humanitarian storytelling agency for non-profits and NGOs, working with award-winning journalists and content specialists to help tell stories that make a difference.

Eva Gilliam is a highly qualified video-maker and multimedia editor with strong creative skills and a proven ability to deliver high quality work under pressure and to deadline. She is a seasoned audio-visual storyteller and has trained youth and adults in communications and multi-media skills in Somalia, South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire. Her professional output focuses on media in post-conflict regions covering social, humanitarian and development stories and she is a key member of the Arete team. Eva has 16 years of experience working in film, radio and television, often with UN agencies and local and international NGOs. She has produced films in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia and South Africa. 

This workshop is part of a series being run in partnership with Arete. To find out more about their other workshops, click here.

This one-day workshop will teach you how to tell powerful stories through video and multimedia. You will learn to create an effective video strategy and how to work with professional video producers and teams. We will go over common pitfalls, learn the relevant theory and lingo, and cover practical topics including how to write a creative brief, how to coordinate bigger productions, and how to use web platforms and social media effectively.

What you will cover:

• How to tell humanitarian stories through video and multimedia for media, NGOs and charities,
• Techniques to tell more powerful stories using audio recordings, music and graphics,
• Strategy and theory,
• Shooting and editing,
• Working with video producers and teams,
• Coordinating productions.

Note – because of limited time this is very much a theoretical introduction to video making.

What to bring:

• Laptop to take notes.

About the trainer – Lauren Groenewald

Arete Stories is the expert humanitarian storytelling agency for non-profits and NGOs, working with award-winning journalists and content specialists to help tell stories that make a difference.

Lauren Groenewald started her career in broadcast journalism in 1991 as a radio producer for Channel Africa. She moved from news journalism into documentary film, which is now the primary focus of her work. Her Cape Town based company Plexus Films has produced content for SABC, Al Jazeera, PBS International and TV2 in Norway. She has produced broadcast as well as short films for NGO’s such as Equal Education and various civil rights organisations. Her work often comments on humanitarian issues – the 2008 Xenophobia in South Africa resulted in the short film CONGO MY FOOT which was part of the the Filmmakers Against Racism collective. She has filmed and worked all over the African continent from Mauritania, Ethiopia to Rwanda, Senegal,Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Lauren has been Chair of the Documentary Filmmakers Association in South Africa. She is also a mentor and tutor at the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking and has acted as Producer for the Close Encounters Laboratory associated with the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival.

This workshop is part of a series being run in partnership with Arete Stories. To find out more about their other workshops, click here.

After many years of receiving a considerable amount of foreign aid, Haiti remains an impoverished and politically fragile state. AIDependence tells the story of the controversial relationship between the people of Haiti and international aid organisations, and exposes the negative side effects of the aid industry, including dependency, corruption, and the corrosion of solidarity and the economy.

Alice Smeets‘ documentary follows Robi, a young Haitian from the poorest slum in the western hemisphere, Cité Soleil, and Sabina, his American girlfriend and former aid worker. Together they work to change the traditional system of aid and are partisans of “Konbit Soley Leve”, a movement which aims to mobilise Haitian communities in solving issues related to healthcare and access to resources.

Through interviews with aid workers, economists, and Haitian activists, AIDependence breaks down stereotypes about non-governmental organisations, aid and poverty in order to shed light on the various models of international aid, and why some seem to work better than others. Using the example of Haiti, the country with the most NGOs per capita, Alice Smeets presents a well-informed analysis of how development projects can give rise to cycles of dependence rather than long-term solutions.

Directed by Alice Smeets
Duration: 90′
Year: 2014

Gino Strada (left) in conversation with Giles Duley (right) at The Frontline Club. Photo: Helena Williams

“You don’t have to be hit by a bullet or step on landmine to be a victim of war.”

In most cases encountered by renowned war surgeon Gino Strada, who has worked in some of the most dangerous countries in the world, the victims have died from entirely preventable diseases:

“Most patients are affected by rheumatic heart disease, this is seventy per cent of my job. It’s a disease that risks the future of an entire generation, a disease clearly linked to poverty. Rheumatic fever is the biggest killer in Africa.”

Strada founded Emergency in 1994, an Italian NGO which has so far provided more than 5,200,000 people with high quality medical care, free of charge. It has worked in 16 countries across the globe; building hospitals, clinics and rehabilitation centres for the world’s most vulnerable. His view is simple – to help those in need:

“Today it looks trivial, that care should be of a high standard, open to everyone, and free of charge. This sounds somewhere between revolutionary and utopic. It’s not – it’s the way it should be”

Emergency’s expertise ranges from surgery for landmine victims, to plastic and reconstructive surgery, orthopaedic surgery and cardiac surgery.

The Salam Centre in Khartoum, opened by Emergency in 2007, is the only facility in Africa capable of high-standard cardiac surgery free of charge. It was built in a bid to help the estimated 18 million people in Africa who are affected by rheumatic heart disease and in need of urgent surgery – something which can be prevented by a simple prophylaxis injection.

It was there in 2010 that photographer Giles Duley, who was in conversation with Strada last night, first encountered the cigarette-smoking surgeon-cum-humanitarian while on assignment. He recalled writing a letter to his girlfriend at the time about Strada and his mission:

“He wants to know a child in Africa will get the same treatment as a child in Italy. To him, there should be no difference in how you treat people.”

“In the two or three weeks I was there, I was unable to capture the photo in my mind that made Emergency stand out from the other NGOs I worked with.  How to capture that essence, that philosophy?” Duley said, adding that clinical hospitals do not make good subjects for photographers.

Barely months later, while on assignment in Afghanistan, Duley stepped on an IED (improvised explosive device) which left him a triple amputee.

It was three years later, when Duley returned to Afghanistan to visit one of Emergency’s hospitals, that he was able to take the perfect shot – an image of a lone man, walking in a leafy Kabul courtyard within the premises of the clinic:

“[That photo] is the embodiment of what Emergency stands for. It encapsulates not just a hospital but an oasis of calm. . . . In the chaos of war, emergency hospitals stands testament that your level of care should be the same level of care of someone in Europe.”

Strada, on the other hand, has always had a clear picture of Emergency’s mission in his mind:

“All of us – sooner or later – will be in need of medical and surgical care. As this is a reality, I think it should be free of charge for all of us, of the best quality for all of us. We treat people with a bit of humanity, a bit of compassion, solidarity and professionalism, which is exactly the way people should be treated. That is the best lens to focus on which kind of society we have in front of us.”

The Italian war surgeon was softly spoken and humble – but the massive impact he has made was felt among the audience, with Megan Pietersen tweeting, “Not been around so many people I respect & admire in a long time.”

https://soundcloud.com/frontlineclub/gino-strada-in-conversation

On 12 January 2010 the deadliest earthquake ever recorded in the western hemisphere hit Haiti, claiming between 230,000 and 300,000 lives. As aid organisations flooded the country there was an unprecedented outpouring from the international community, and $15.3 billion was pledged for relief and reconstruction.

We will be joined by a panel of experts from the humanitarian aid community and reporters who covered the earthquake and the subsequent reconstruction efforts, to examine why – after three years and $15.3 billion – the country is still in crisis.

In a recent development, cholera victims in Haiti are threatening to sue the UN, accusing them of negligently allowing peacekeeping soldiers to pollute Haiti’s water with cholera. We will be asking how the situation went so wrong and have the lessons been learned.

Chaired by Inigo Gilmore, an award winning journalist and filmmaker who has worked across the world, with extensive experience in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The panel:

Jonathan Katz is a writer and reporter, he is author of The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster. He has written for the AP for six years, stationed in Haiti for nearly three and a half years and was the only American reporter in the country when the earthquake hit on 12 January 2010. He is the 2010 recipient of the Medill Medal of Courage in Journalism and the 2012 winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for this book.

Andy Leak is professor of French and Francophone Studies at University College London. His current research centres on literature and politics in Haiti since 1986. He is also secretary of the Haiti Support Group – a UK-based not-for-profit which seeks to amplify the voices of progressive Haitian CSOs in Europe and N. America. He is one of the editors of the quarterly Haiti Briefing.

Arjan Hehenkamp is a general director of Medecins Sans Frontieres (for the Dutch section) and has twenty years experience of humanitarian work around the world since starting in Somalia in 1993. Since 2006 he has been ultimately responsible for much of MSF’s work in Haiti as well as many other countries. MSF has been working in Haiti since 1991 and currently runs substantial medical programmes in the country.

Mario Gousse is a Haitian-born science teacher based in the UK. He is a member of the Haiti Support Group Executive Committee.  He has helped to found the education charity UHUK (United Haitians in the United Kingdom) and currently serves as their Education Officer.  He is a student and observer of Haitian history, politics and culture.

With extreme weather leading to failing harvests and rising food prices, food security is one of the biggest problems facing governments today. The IF campaign has highlighted four areas that they believe can help tackle hunger: aid, tax, land and transparency.

One billion people go to bed hungry every night and two million children die from malnutrition every year. We will be joined by those involved in the campaign and others to break down the problems with our food system and ask what can be done to fix it.

Chaired by Paul Vallely, a leading writer on development, he is associate editor of The Independent where he writes about ethical, cultural and political issues. He has previously reported from over 30 countries and was the Africa correspondent for The Times. He has written a number of books including Bad Samaritans: First World Ethics and Third World Debt, Promised Lands and he ghost-wrote Bob Geldof’s autobiography, Is That It?.

The panel:

Paul McMahon has worked as an advisor on sustainable food systems to environmental charities and UN agencies. He co-founded and now helps run SLM Partners, a business that invests in sustainable agriculture. He is the author of Feeding Frenzy: The New Politics of Food.

Mike Lewis leads ActionAid UK’s policy work on tax in the developing world. He was previously a UN sanctions investigator and member of the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan. He has a background in NGO research on tax, financial transparency, human rights and the role of business in conflict.

David Bull joined UNICEF UK (United Nations Children’s Fund) as Executive Director in 1999 and since the the charities income has trebled. He has travelled to scores of countries to advocate for children caught in conflict or in silent emergencies.

Mary Creagh is Labour MP for Wakefield and Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The humanitarian situation in Syria has dramatically worsened over the past weeks and the plight of the Syrian people has drawn international attention and concern as well as condemnation of the Syrian regime. Access to the country for humanitarian organisations has been restricted by violence and insecurity that has killed five Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers and staff members in the past 12 months.

There is clearly an obligation for humanitarian agencies and journalists to share their perspectives on the humanitarian situation on the ground to ensure it is understood as clearly as is possible and decisive action can be taken. This must, however, be weighed by many actors against their own concerns of security, access and safety.

Join us to discuss the humanitarian efforts being made in Syria and the many challenges that are faced. How do journalists and humanitarian agencies share information in such a complex conflict situation? We will analyse the balance between openness and the ability to continue to provide vital assistance on the ground in a conflict such as that in Syria.

Chaired by Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News’ International Editor and author of Sandstorm, Libya in the Time of Revolution,

With:

Hicham Hassan, the International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson for the Middle East.

Lyse Doucet, BBC Chief International Correspondent.

Ben Parker, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Syria.

Fadi Haddad, director of the Mosaic Initiative for Syria, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation working directly with human rights defenders and NGOs inside Syria and neighbouring countries.

For 25 years photo agency Panos Pictures has been covering stories the mainstream media won’t. The commercial arm of the development NGO the Panos Institute (now Panos London) has had photographers documenting history as it unfolds, with a focus on social and development stories globally.

“We like to poke around in corners other people don’t go,” said Adrian Evans, Director of Panos Pictures.

“Photography is the idea of ‘don’t look over there, look over here’, and we’re not afraid to take a stand. 

 

“We step aside from the main news and can pursue stories when they are not under the media spotlight. We cover stories we think are important.”

“In media terms, there is this attitude that once the UN goes in, everything finishes. I think staying longer in a place and covering the aftermath [is important].

 

"After the war in Kosovo there was an orgy of violence.”

“It shows the passing of time, and how things are not being resolved in a quick way,” Testa explained. 

 

“In Kosovo everything has moved on, but for these mothers they are frozen. For the soldiers who killed [the missing] it only took a second, for the mothers, time has stopped.”

 

“With ideas of oil companies being corrupt and evil, to see it as a health remedy… well, a photograph can make you reassess your views.”

 

“Photographers are like little NGOs themselves, they have to be able to write proposals and go out there,” he said, adding that many photographers now look to displaying their work in galleries for a fee. 

“Nowadays it’s not just about the photographs. It’s about who you’re working with and why. 

 

“We communicate to the world our interest, our passions, our desires. I’d like to think Panos does this.”

With over one hundred million ‘views’ the Kony 2012 video has started a far-reaching debate on the aims and value of a production seen by many as an over-simplification of complex situation.

Produced by the NGO ‘Invisible children’, the video calls for military intervention to “stop Kony and disarm the LRA”.

Host Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House was on the hunt for controversy – which is exactly what he found.

Perhaps the most scathing comments on the video came from film-maker and journalist Callum Macrae.

“Low and behold the world has paid attention and I’m hating every minute of it… This is a dreadful, I’m afraid, campaign. But nonetheless very important and we need to discuss it.”

Macrae says the unwavering focus on Joseph Kony puts him ill at ease.

“We shouldn’t be lowering ourselves to the level of Kony or the people who see him as an African bogeyman, we should be looking at the issues that are raised by it.”

Mareike Schomerus, of LSE’s Justice and Security Research Programme agreed that focusing entirely on Kony is a dangerous simplification.

“If you go into LRA controlled areas and actually stay there it becomes clear that the situation is actually much more complex than elevating just one man to the position of superpower…

When I talk, especially to military men,… and I say to them ‘do you honestly really believe that that one man can be responsible for messing about… 5 national armies and 3 UN missions and the US army, and the French army and sometimes the Israeli army.”

Programmes Director for the charity War Child, Amanda Weisbaum also casts a critical eye on the content of the video.

“They did 30 minutes of filming and they didn’t really do any history surrounding it or any complexities surrounding it… but yes I would have loved the 100 million hits”

But how then do people kindle an interest for African issues? Asks Benjamin Chesterton of production company DuckRabbit.

“Do you think we all start with PHDs?… we have to start somewhere… a percentage of [these people that watched the video] will go away and find out more… and maybe do something more than sitting around debating it.”

Poet and musician of Ugandan descent, Musa Okwonga rejects this out of hand.

“It’s utterly patronising to say that children can’t handle complexity… people followed complex narratives involving multiple characters over seven books with Harry Potter”

The idea put forward by the video that military intervention is the only solution held no water for the panel.

“The lessons of history” says Macrae, “are that it’s always gone wrong; it’s always scatter gun and it’s always brought more havoc”

Watch the full event here:

Live Video streaming by Ustream