Free Screening of “No Fire Zone”

FINAL Macrae flyer lo resWASHINGTON, DC, 31 January 2015 — Join us this Wednesday 4 February for a screening and panel discussion with UK filmmaker Callum Macrae of his documentary “No Fire Zone,” about human rights abuses during the 2009 offensive by the armed forces of Sri Lanka against the Tamil population.

Learn how Callum acquired hard-to-gather footage of the atrocities that left thousands dead and wounded. And discuss with him his years-long effort to bring attention to injustice, and to force those responsible for that injustice to face consequences for their actions.

This event is free and open to the public. Please arrive on time for food and light refreshment.

Bill Gentile


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Where Has All the (Our) Money Gone?

Refugee boy

KABUL, Afghanistan, 7 January 2014 — This is a brief clip I shot in a refugee camp in Kabul. According to a camp spokeswoman, the camp houses about 1,500 people from across Afghanistan who have fled the war. She said some of the refugees have been here for as long as 12 years. No running water. Open sewers. No electricity. Some of the kids don’t have shoes.

In a May 2012 report, the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that if government figures on Afghanistan “for FY2001-FY2013…are totaled for all direct spending on the war, they reach $641.7 billion.”

That’s right, $641.7 billion, with a “B.”

The CSIS report goes on: “This is an incredible amount of money to have spent with so few controls, so few plans, so little auditing, and almost no credible measures of effectiveness.”

Indeed, the spokeswoman at the refugee camp asked what happens to all the money donated by foreign countries, especially the United States. Why are thousands of people living in conditions like the ones in this video?

I didn’t have any answers. Click HERE to see the clip.

#documentaries


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Using Character to Tell Video Journalism Stories

Returnees

WASHINGTON, DC, 28 December 2013 — This is another of the films produced during my recent Backpack Video Journalism Workshop in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Maria Garcia produced this story about Uruguayans who are returning to their home country after having spent years abroad, mostly Spain, looking for economic opportunity. It’s a microcosm, really, of the broader story of global migration in search of a better life. Following a tried and true storytelling technique, Maria uses the experiences of one or two persons to exemplify and to embody the broader stories of millions.

Click HERE to watch Maria’s story.

 


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“Footprints of Color” at Montevideo Workshop

Footprints

WASHINGTON, DC, 23 December 2013 — One of the most interesting films made during our recent Backpack Video Journalism Workshop in Montevideo, Uruguay, was done by Juan Marra about a young man who paints the sidewalks near his home in an effort to brighten up the neighborhood.

This is just another example of how stories present themselves to those of us who open our eyes, and perhaps our hearts, in order to see and to feel them. You don’t have to go to Syria to find a good story. There’s probably one, on your own block, waiting for you to tell it.

The five-day workshop was organized by Valentina Quagliotti, an exchange student at American University in 2010. Valentina is the founder of Ikusi, a non-profit dedicated to making positive social change with video. My trip to Uruguay was funded by the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo.


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