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IAWRT USA presents Understanding Lighting and Sound for Film with Sara Chitambo

The workshop takes place with pre-registered participants on Zoom on September 18, 2022 | 8 am Eastern Standard Time

Part of the My Climate Change Story: Cellphone Cinema Workshop

When investigating the impact of climate change, one most often reads articles written either by scientists, journalists, or scholars. The voices of those who actually experience the devastating effects of this phenomenon are most often unheard.

In order to find a way to develop women and girls into streams of consciousness — looking at common themes: Themes emerging from these stories will be highlighted and used to initiate and forge networks, conversations, and collaboration to craft appropriate and relevant solutions. One of the goals is to teach women and girls to use their cell phones to tell their own stories.

The workshops will prepare women globally with an intergenerational lens to go into their communities and use their cell phones to create a 3 to 7-minute vignette that will be uploaded to the IAWRT My Climate Change YouTube channel.

The My Climate Change Story YouTube Channel shall be a laboratory for innovation and solutions that can be shared and emulated globally.

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Nina Sabnani teaches ‘Understanding Design’

Nina Sabnani, a member of IAWRT India, has devoted two years to developing UNDERSTANDING DESIGN, a combination of free online courses that focus on different aspects of Design Education and Innovation. 

In this course, students get to study the basic concepts of design and understand how the design process works for different aspects such as Society, Sustainability, Industry, Collaboration, Innovation amongst others under seven detailed modules. The course features both eminent and young Indian designers who present case studies and offer insights into the process of design. The course has curated content that include reading material, TED talks and films.

The video production of the course was done by Chandita Mukherjee, and additional scripting inputs were provided by Smriti Nevatia, both of whom are IAWRT India members.

Nina intends to reach out to many learners globally, with engaging and enriching content. There are no prerequisites or qualifications required. Learners of any age, young, working or retired, can join for free from any part of the world.

Available on the government of India’s free e-learning portal, SWAYAM, it is a free online course organised by the Open Design School at IIT Bombay where Nina used to teach. 

There are 9919 students enrolled on the course as of posting.

Course: Understanding Design

Course Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tYxuu_o4Mc&t=1s

To Register for the credit course: https://onlinecourses.swayam2.ac.in/aic19_de04/preview

Enrolment ends on August 1.

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Women In Media-Newark presents Women’s International Film Festival 2022

The 2022 Women’s International Film Festival is dedicated to the legacy of Hollywood Black Film Festival Creator TANYA KERSEY.

IAWRT USA President Sheila Dallas-Katzman is part of the Screening Committee.

In person screenings:

July 28, 5pm, CRANFORD THEATER, 25 North Avenue, Cranford, NJ

July 29, 5pm, T. THOMAS FORTUNE CULTURAL CENTER, 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd., Red Bank, NJ

July 30, 12pm, NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART, 49 Washington St., Newark, NJ

August 4, 5pm, ODR STUDIOS, 89 Madison St., Newark, NJ

Virtual screenings:

August 5 – Register: https://bit.ly/3Omv1Lg

August 6

Film programme:

La Receta de la Abuela – Daniela Miranda Perez, Director

The story of Ofelia Moreno, an activist who dedicated 40 years of her life to seeking Truth and Justice for her relatives executed by the Chilean civic-military dictatorship. 11:20 min. – Chile

Adiyah Grace – Brenda Williams, Director Dr. Parks, an African American navigates the discussion of Black Lives Matter discussed in the workplace. 16:58 min. – USA

Under Tension – Mireille Fiévet, Director Keeping the family under the yoke and authority of the father is more and more difficult and dangerous for the balance of the family. 20 min. – France

Precious Cargo: Return to Viet Nam – Janet Paxton Gardner, Director This story explores the complex history of the 1975 Operation Babylift. It was the last chapter of a war that tore this country apart. 28:00 min. – USA/VN

Daughter of A Lost Bird – Brooke Pepion Swaney, Director By sharing a deeply personal experience of inherited cultural trauma, the film opens the door to broader and more complicated conversations about the erasure of Native culture and questions of identity surrounding adoption. 66 min. – USA

A Wake for Mary Murphy – Barrie Dowdall, Director After the sudden death of her mother Nora is left to sort through their unresolved conflicts. During the wake, she is haunted by the ghost of her mother. 6 min. – Ireland

Well Actually – Vlada Knowlton, Director A Black woman software engineer deals with workplace microaggressions from her male colleagues. 9:27 min. – United States

A Stranger at the Funeral – Ana Maria Estrada Cardenas, Director Roberto’s family is surprised by the mystery of the man at the funeral. 15 min. – Peru

Coded Bias – Shalini Kantayya, Director When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that many facial recognition technologies misclassify women and darker-skinned faces, she is compelled to investigate further and start the Algorithmic Justice League. 90 min. – US/UK/China/South Africa

Under The Same Sky – Alison Chace, Director IWomen around the globe share wisdom in a global pandemic. 14:00 – min. – US/Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Mongolian, Panjabi

Eureka – MiidaChu, Director A young indentured Chinese prostitute must overcome her toxic dependency on the brothel madam on the eve of the 1885 anti-Chinese riot in Eureka, California. 14:50 min. – United States

Daughters of the Sea – Laura Esteban, Director Compelling testimonies of gender discrimination are brought to the table, highlighting the bravery of the women who work in the Atlantic Ocen, and the long road that still lies ahead to achieve gender equality in our contemporary society. 17:20 min. – Spain

Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power – Abby Ginzbert, Director An intimate and inspiring portrait or Representative Barbara Lee, a champion of civil rights and a steadfast voice for human rights, peace, and economic and racial justice in the U.S. Congress. 83 min. – United States

Trailer for Thalidomide in the USA – C. Jean Grover, Director This trailer previews the documentary which will disclose first-ever seen footage, by and about United States thalidomide survivors, chronicling their decades-long journey to find the truth about distri- bution of the drug in the US, and its devastating effects. 2:28 min – United States

Maid of Honor – Jessica McGaugh, Director As the maid of honor for her best friend’s wedding, Tasha, a steadfast tomboy, has to get fitted for a dress. 6 min. – United States

boju weyín – Bimpe’ Fageyinbo, Director American poet, Bimpé Fageyinbo explores love, heartbreak and grief in this visual poetic memoir featuring selected poems from her 2010 book “so maybe that’s the bee’s weakness.” 26 min. – US

Guarantee of Life – Veronica Couto and Oscar Vazquez, Directors Abortion in the Dominican Republic is totally prohibited and crimi- nalized by law. Guarantee of life collects testimonies from victims of this legislation to support the feminist movement in its struggle to achieve basic rights for women. 43:39 min. – Spain/Dominican Republic

Aya’s Dream – Aleksandra Orbeck, Katalin Hanappi, Directors A young Ju/ hoansi San girl struggles to navigate the society she finds herself in. We follow her spiritual and dreamlike journey of connecting to her ancestors, reconnecting to the identity of her people and rediscovering the essence of life. 13:00 min. – Namibia

Cross – Hyunjin Lee, Director A Korean immigrant mom in the US goes through a journey against her religious faith to embrace her only son who is discovering his sexual orientation. 15:41 min. – United States

Lost From Sight – Olivier vandersleyen, Director Marie Gaillet, a Belgian artist, has been a painter for 70 years and has been severely handicapped for 13 years by AMD. 93 years old, she still continues to give painting classes. 23:41 min. – Belgium

The Racial Politics of Abortion: A Short Film by Dawn Porter – Acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter ‘s intimate and personal view of the often-overlooked stories of Black women who seek out reproductive services in America. This documentary gives a snapshot into the lives of Black healthcare providers, mothers and pro-choice and pro-life activists and shows how laws that restrict abortion access impact Black women and their families. 26:10 min – USA

Four Hours a Day – Ayelet Dekel, Director Babies who, according to the kibbutz ideology, were taken from their mothers and raised and lived in children home. Every mother was allowed to hold her child for only “Four Hours a Day.” The mental scars created and left in the hearts of mothers and their children are exposed for the first time in this Documentary . 55:00 min. – Israe

The Dress – Marie Karkashadze, Director A young women under house arrest decides to change her ap- pearance drastically for the last chance and a “perfect date” with someone she loves the most. 8:55 min. – United States

Demolition: Staging A Protest – Grace Uther, Director Powerhouse femme performers Polytoxic are taking down the patri- archy with spectacular force … and everyone is invited to the show. 24:35 min. – Australia

Unseen: How We’re Failing as Parent Caregivers & Why It Matters – Amanda Dyer, Tom Dyer, Directors Through the power of unfiltered, compelling human stories, Unseen cultivates compassion and tangible support for the caregivers in our communities. 46:28 min. – United States

String of Stories – Indrani Nayar-Gall, Director Traumatic life experiences of three women who have been victims of the Devadasi tradition (religious servitude). 1:11:29 – United States/Canada/India

For more information: https://wim-n.com/2022-2/

Flyer: https://wim-n.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Womens-International-Film-Festival-2022-program.pdf

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IAWRT statement on the denial of Maria Ressa’s cyber libel conviction appeal

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) expresses alarm at the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the conviction of Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher Rey Santos Jr on trumped-up charges of cyber libel.

Their conviction in 2020 stemmed from a cyber libel case on a Rappler article published on May 29, 2012, almost five months before the cybercrime law was enacted on October 3. The Department of Justice under then-president Rodrigo Duterte, however, ruled that the story had been updated and remained posted as of Feb. 14, 2014, and approved the filing of charges in 2019.

The court also lengthened the jail time to up to six years, eight months and 20 days or an additional eight months in denying Ressa’s appeal.

After the court decision, Ressa and Rappler experienced an “info ops/mob,” as part of the continuing online hate she has received following Rappler’s critical reporting of the former president’s war on drugs and Duterte openly attacking Ressa and Rappler.

The court’s decision comes over a week after the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission issued a revocation order against Rappler, one of the many legal cases and harassment Rappler endured during the term of Duterte. Both disturbing decisions were released between Duterte’s last day in office and the first few days of the new president, son of dictator, and press freedom killer Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The international media watchdog group, Reporters without Borders, has called Duterte a press freedom “predator.”

The recent developments in Ressa and Rappler’s cases add to growing concerns over press freedom in the Philippines.

Marcos Jr.’s win has raised concerns about the future of media in the country, where journalists were barred from interviewing or covering or roughhoused during his campaign sorties. Marcos Jr. refused to join election debates and only allowed interviews from selected media houses to answer selected questions.

Before the term of Duterte’s appointed officials ended with him, the former National Security Adviser ordered the blocking of independent media websites Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly. (Read related statement from IAWRT Philippines here:https://www.facebook.com/Iawrtphil/posts/5463518523707291)

Ressa rightly said that the danger that her and Rappler’s experiences pose if you’re a Filipino is that “this could happen to you, too.” And this could happen anywhere in the world where people keep silent as institutions are being used to silence journalists.

IAWRT will continue to support Maria Ressa, Rappler, journalists, and media outfits that continue to pursue the truth but are persecuted for it.

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Radhika Khanna develops and teaches MOOC on Photojournalism

Radhika Khanna, a member of IAWRT India, has devoted three years to developing an online course on digital photography taught comprehensively through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Photojournalism. She intends to reach out to many learners globally, especially women, with engaging and enriching content.

There are no prerequisites or qualifications required. Learners of any age, young, working or retired, can join for free from any part of the world.

The course features both eminent and young Indian photographers, photo historians and curators, including Avani Rai, Avinash Pasricha, Desikan Krishnan, Dinesh Krishnan, Gopinath Sricandane, Gurinder Osan, Madhuraj, Navroze Contractor, Nimit Nigam, Poochi Venkat, Prashant Panjiar, Raghu Rai, Prof. Sabeena Gadihoke, Sanjay Prasad Ganguly, Saravanan Janakarajan, Saumya Khandelwal, Selvaprakash Lakshmanan, Shantanu Krishnan, SR Raghunathan, Tanvi Mishra and Vicky Roy. 

Available on the government of India’s free e-learning portal, SWAYAM, it is a free online course organised by Pondicherry University, India, where Radhika teaches. The course is a great way for photography enthusiasts to stay in touch with their craft and absorb insights from the masters.

The course preview link has a short introductory video and information on the course content.

 To join, click on: https://onlinecourses.swayam2.ac.in/cec22_ge42/preview

Course starts on July 18 and ends on October 31 this year. Enrolment ends on August 31, 2022.

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IAWRT Kenya members win in Annual Journalism Excellence Awards 2022

Three members from IAWRT Kenya chapter won in the 2022 Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA), known as one of Kenya’s prestigious journalism awards which was established since 2012 for print, broadcast, and now digital journalism

Former IAWRT Chairperson Rachael Nakitare received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the media development in Kenya over the years. Rachael has been involved in mega media projects locally and internationally. She was the first Kenyan journalist to interview the former President Obama at the White House.

Ruth Keah of Radio Rahma bagged three awards in three categories: ICT and Telecommunication Reporting Radio for “Gharama ya mawasiliano kwa watu wenye changamoto ya matamshi,” Innovation and Business Reporting Radio for “Programu ya ranunu inavyosaidia watu wenye ulemavu kupata ajira” and Sports Reporting Radio for “Mohammed Munga – aaupuza ulemavu na kung’aa kimataifa kwenye mchezo wa soka.” All her stories, produced in the local Swahili language, highlighted the plight as well as achievements of people with disabilities.

Senior radio journalist Lourdes Walusala of KBC English Service won in the Innovation and Business Reporting Radio category for “Recovery of women-led smes.”

The chief guest at the awards ceremony was Court of Appeal President Daniel Musinga, while Auditor General Nancy Gathungu was the Keynote speaker. MCK CEO Mr. David Omwoyo reiterated the council’s commitment to upholding and ensuring ethical journalism practice.

He said, “It is prudent for the media to provide Kenyans and media content consumers with content that is prepared professionally, that promotes, respects and adheres to the fundamental principles and global standards of journalism.”

Through the awards, the media has an opportunity to enhance its professional standards of practice and grow in its mandate as an opinion shaper and a platform for discourse.

About AJEA

Three members of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT)- Kenya chapter scooped top awards during the prestigious Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) 2022. This is a signature event of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) that recognises and celebrates excellence and professionalism in the media industry in Kenya. The awards are usually the peak of celebrations to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day marked globally on 3rd May. This year’s event was particularly significant, marking ten years since the inception of AJEA in 2012.

Winners of these awards submit their stories on broadcast, print and digital platforms after which a panel of judges who then determine the winning stories. The stories must have been published or broadcast over the last one calendar year. Judges often look for innovative stories and investigative journalism that goes beyond the obvious, the ordinary, the expected, and the regular. They look for journalism that puts issues in context and in perspective, thereby making sense of issues of public interest.. The stories cut across radio, television, print and digital platforms . The MCK also presents the Life Time Achievement Award to persons who have shown significant contribution to the media industry at large.

The Council has held AJEA since 2012, with this year’s event marking ten years of its existence.

The awards are a continuous annual recognition and celebration of journalistic excellence and achievement in Kenya. The awards aim to identify, celebrate and maintain excellence in journalism and the media industry in general. It also endeavors to recognise journalists who have demonstrated high standards of reportage and ethics in their work and challenge them to achieve the highest standards of ethics in the profession and practice of journalism. The awards also identify areas of capacity, need for journalists and media practitioners to maintain standards of excellence in the profession. The awards also works to motivate young journalists to seek to excel in their work and grow in the profession and inspire journalists to play their role in upholding democracy, integrity and accountability in society.

The Media Council of Kenya is the guardian for the code of ethics and practice of journalism in the country. The Council is also expected to ensure that journalism standards are upheld and gaps identified in the practice of journalism are mitigated through capacity building.

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Launch of IAWRT Safety handbook in Turkish

“What if? Safety Handbook for Women Journalists” Turkish edition was launched on April 21, 2022 at 19:00 pm Istanbul time at the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS) with the presence of many Turkish journalists.

Abeer Saady, author of the handbook and former IAWRT Vice Chairperson, was not able to join the event in person as she was in Pakistan training journalists and media students, but was able to contribute online.

“Special thanks [go] to IAWRT, JMIC, TGS, and to the great media professors Bora Ataman and Barış Çoban who made that possible. I wish I was there in person with the editor of the book Nonee Walsh and editor of the Arabic version عماد ناصف Emad Nasif,” said Saady in her post on the launch.

My Climate Change Story: The Democratization of Climate News

The complete discussion surrounding climate change is an abstraction. What does two degrees Celsius actually mean to people? Information and debate are dominated by national governments, large enterprises, scientists, and academia. The vast majority of media depend on these experts for their coverage of climate change. Our community’s experience has been ignored; and left out of the search for solutions.

My Climate Change Story is a project initiated by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) to collect climate change vignettes from the people experiencing climate change first-hand and working together to protect the environment to make a difference. Submissions will be uploaded to My Climate Change YouTube Channel to begin a global discussion.

On March 18, 2022, we held our first event, in parallel with the 2022 UN Commission on the Status of Women, offering training in producing short videos using a cell phone. The two-hour session was oversubscribed by more than three times what the Zoom platform was able to accommodate, giving us a sense of the depth of interest and need for this training. The workshop covered ways to make the most of cell phone video capability – planning and storyboarding, angles and shot framing, and editing and uploading to YouTube channel – through demonstrations in plenary sessions and practical experience in breakout rooms. Workshop participants receive access for follow-up assistance.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2022, we are organizing a virtual event to discuss the democratization of climate information. In the first part of the webinar, we will present two of the seven-minute vignettes submitted to My Climate Change YouTube channel. It will be followed by a panel of experts who will speak to the UNESCO theme and climate journalists. This past December Sasha Chavkin, of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Columbia Journalism Review, reported “Many of the countries that have seen the most violence against environmental defenders in recent years also rank near the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index.” Journalists must feel confident and safe to report their stories for the greater public good.

IAWRT’s ‘My Climate Change YouTube channel’ will contain original film shorts (three to seven minutes) created by women of all ages from countries around the world. The channel will be organized to highlight common themes, and to encourage future collaborations among participants, across boundaries of geography, culture, and age.  Contents will be shared with journalists, to add personal experience to climate news that otherwise focuses only on science and statistics, technologies and politics and other distancing facts. Ultimately, our goal is to promulgate the idea that the people most affected by climate change – especially women and girls – and those most active in making a difference have the right to be making decisions that affect their own and their families’ fates and to be involved in the formulating of solutions that are otherwise imposed by national governments and distant corporations.

Our goal is to not only empower our members to use their cell phones to tell their stories, but to also teach other women and girls to produce cellphone cinema, and to also build community support for their everyday work. My Climate Change Story YouTube Channel is a laboratory for innovation and solutions that can be shared and emulated globally.

Panel of Experts include:

  • Gaea Katreena Cabico, The Philippines
  • UNESCO Asia Pacific
  • Elisabeth Eide, JMIC Norway
  • Dr. Michelle Ferrier, TrollBusters (USA)
  • Teopista Nabusoba, Kenya

We won’t solve the climate crisis unless we solve the misinformation crisis.

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Insight Talk: Pandemic Through the Eyes of Women Journalists

The Long Documentary Committee and Mentorship Committee of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) created a podcast series with support from the Journalism and Media International Center of the Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway.

Women journalists from India, Pakistan, Kenya and Uganda share insights on the challenges and breakthroughs while covering the pandemic.

The first episode is a conversation with Tanzeela Mazhar, a journalist from Pakistan who is a COVID-19 survivor. She also got pregnant during the pandemic but continued reporting despite the many health challenges. IAWRT member from Pakistan Qudsia Mehmood spoke with Tanzeela in this episode.

Listen here:

https://insighttalk.buzzsprout.com/

Early this year, the Long Documentary Committee held a two-part podcast workshop for members. 

IAWRT Nepal Short Film Competition

0830 IAWRT Nepal call for short films

Event date: 16 November, 2021 – 12:00

IAWRT Nepal opens the call for film entries for their short film competition. This is an opportunity for female film directors. Deadline of submission is on November 16, 2021. 

Contact IAWRT Nepal through their Facebook page for more information. 

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