Towards Gender Justice IAWRT Mentorship Program for members from Asia


March 30 to April 5, 2024

Inaugural Session

The Mentorship Program was inaugurated at Gate College on 31st March 2024. Ms. Sumitra Pandey, Chairperson, Ward 7 was the Chief Guest. Ms. Manita Pokhrel (Secretary, IAWRT Nepal) inaugurated the event and welcomed the distinguished guests while Ichchha Gurung (President, IAWRT Nepal) chaired the program.

Crafting Stories: An Introduction to Scriptwriting for Documentary Film
(March 31-April 1, Resource Person: Dr. Shilpi Gulati, IAWRT India)

The documentary scriptwriting workshop had 35 participants. Dr. Gulati debunked common myths about documentary filmmaking, and explained the process from concept to post-production. Participants were divided into six groups and developed concepts, wrote scripts, making excellent presentations.

Rethinking Media: Towards Gender-sensitive and Facilitative Engagements with Social Media

(April 2, Resource Persons: Dr. Gulati, Mr. Deepak Raj Awasthi, Nepal Police, Cyber Security Department and Mr. Rob Vanwey, Cyber Security expert, USA)

Mr. Awasthi spoke on Cyber Law of Nepal, Dr. Gulati discussed how social media platforms present news and information, and how to identify fake news, and Mr. Vanwey spoke on data protection, and how to safeguard data and information on devices.

On Point: Effective Technical Writing

(April 2-3, Ms. Lynda C. Garcia, IAWRT Philippines)


Ms. Garcia gave participants insights on proposal writing. The participants, from diverse backgrounds, and were divided into groups based on their interest. The first task was to write a memo. On the second day, participants worked in groups on proposal writing. Based on feedback, participants were asked to submit a second draft after the workshop.

Hybrid meeting between IAWRT Nepal team and International Mentorship Committee

(April 2)
The meeting noted that all the workshops were well received. The scriptwriting workshop resulted in several projects that could be developed for production. A program evaluation with participants to explore the possibility of mentorship opportunities arising out of the workshops is underway.

Visit to Nepal Television and Radio Nepal

(April 4)

IAWRT Nepal members along with mentors visited Government Radio and Television to gain practical experience and knowledge.

Conclusion

Overall the mentorship program was well received by organizers, participants and partners. The participants felt that they had greatly benefitted from the inputs provided. There were 6 scripts for possible new projects and 4 proposal topics finalized. These could form the basis of a new mentoring cycle, currently under discussion. A face-to-face workshop, followed by online mentoring is a good model and can lead to positive outcomes. IAWRT Nepal team developed confidence in their ability to undertake international projects and will be hosting the 40th IAWRT Biennial Conference in November 2025.

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Mentorship Committee Report April 2024

As indicated in the previous report of November 2023, 11 mentor-mentee pairs were formed initially at the end of October 2023. Of these, 8 pairs took off the ground, with the mentors and mentees being put in touch with each other by the Committee chair. In March 2024, we decided to take stock of the process. Of the 8 pairs, 3 pairs had met more than once, of which 2 pairs took up some work. 3 pairs could not go forward, because the mentees did not turn up in two cases and in one case there was a language issue. The remaining 2 pairs were in touch on WhatsApp but could not initiate any joint work due to either mentor or mentee having issues with giving time. The reasons for the programme not going forward smoothly included family problems, ill health, time zone issues, as well as lack of commitment and communication on the part of the mentees. It is clear from this that the mentorship process is far from smooth and mentee commitment is a serious issue.

We elicited suggestions from mentors and the following came up: screening of mentees to ascertain seriousness and suitability, involvement of mentors in the initial meetings with mentees, starting the mentoring process with a structured input such as an online or offline workshop, combined with project-based learning.

The mentorship programme in Kathmandu held from March 31 to April 4 provided an opportunity to begin to explore a different model of mentorship. Three workshops were held:

  •  Crafting Stories: An Introduction to Scriptwriting for Documentary Film (2 days, Resource Person: Dr. Shilpi Gulati, IAWRT India)
  •  Rethinking Media: Towards Gender-sensitive and Facilitative Engagements with Social Media ( One day, Resource Persons: Dr. Shilpi Gulati, IAWRT India and Mr. Rob Vanwey, USA, cyber security expert)
  •  On Point: Effective Technical Writing (Focus on How to Write Proposals)
    (2 days, Ms. Lynda C. Garcia, IAWRT Philippines)

While the detailed report is being awaited, preliminary reports obtained at a hybrid mentorship committee meeting held during the workshops indicate that all the workshops were well received. The scriptwriting workshop resulted in several projects that have potential of being worked on for funding and production. We are undertaking a programme evaluation with participants to explore the possibility of mentorship opportunities arising out of the workshops. Another issue discussed at the meeting was that the mentorship programme needs to be expanded to include mentees who might not be full-fledged members of IAWRT, but who have some IAWRT connection, eg. Student volunteers, film festival participants etc.

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