Storytelling takes a new form in North-East Delhi
17-10-2006 (New Delhi)
"I never thought I would be able to make a film" said 16-year-old Farzana Malik. She and other young girls from Seelampur and Ballimaran ICT Centers, in North-East Delhi recently participated in a six-day digital storytelling workshop.
The participants of the event that was organized by UNESCO in association with Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust as part of the Finding a Voice project, were trained by Sheela Sethuraman, Executive Director of Eduweave, USA.
The digital storytelling workshop was a unique initiative for spreading awareness and information through visual media in the community. The prime aim of this workshop was to use the power of storytelling in combination with computer technology to help voiceless women raise issues and share their personal experiences. Another goal was to identify master trainers among youth who could mentor and provide training to other interested community members.
During the course of the workshop, the participants evolved scripts, made storyboards, took photographs, recorded their voice-over and finally edited their digital stories. "I have not only learnt the technical aspects of digital story telling but also learnt about aesthetics and content development during the workshop", said 20-year-old Saima Begum from Ballimaran who made a film titled "My Teacher".
Sajida Suleman from Ballimaran plans to screen her story in schools and colleges to inspire the teachers and students. Huma Iqbal who just passed her 12th class examination from Seelampur said, "We have been provided full infrastructure, best guidance and foremost motivation to make meaningful films. We really worked hard at evolving the best scripts".
The girls made their stories on various subjects such as domestic violence, poverty, alcoholism, family problems, women's education, etc. The completed digital stories were screened in Ballimaran, Welcome Colony and Seelampur-Jafrabad areas. Married women, college girls, young girls, school dropouts, divorced women, married men, employed youth and aged people participated in the screening program.
"We learnt why to make digital films. We also tried to develop our own style and tone to express our feelings for specific target audience", said 26-year-old Sayera Bano from Seelampur. The students completed their scripts in first two days. They drafted a storyboard on the third day, in order to identify visuals to support the story they took photographs, read their scripts and recorded voice-overs on the same day. They were introduced to the basics of image designing/manipulating and moviemaking technologies.
A 27-year-old Monika Chorasia, a married woman from Ballimaran who made her story "Mehndi Rang Layi" (Henna Brought Color [to life]) said, "I am very interested to make some other digital films. I have at least five topics in my mind for the further production. Pollution is my prime concern for the next project."
Story by Aseem Asha Usman, with support from Kiran Mulenahalli
The digital storytelling workshop was a unique initiative for spreading awareness and information through visual media in the community. The prime aim of this workshop was to use the power of storytelling in combination with computer technology to help voiceless women raise issues and share their personal experiences. Another goal was to identify master trainers among youth who could mentor and provide training to other interested community members.
During the course of the workshop, the participants evolved scripts, made storyboards, took photographs, recorded their voice-over and finally edited their digital stories. "I have not only learnt the technical aspects of digital story telling but also learnt about aesthetics and content development during the workshop", said 20-year-old Saima Begum from Ballimaran who made a film titled "My Teacher".
Sajida Suleman from Ballimaran plans to screen her story in schools and colleges to inspire the teachers and students. Huma Iqbal who just passed her 12th class examination from Seelampur said, "We have been provided full infrastructure, best guidance and foremost motivation to make meaningful films. We really worked hard at evolving the best scripts".
The girls made their stories on various subjects such as domestic violence, poverty, alcoholism, family problems, women's education, etc. The completed digital stories were screened in Ballimaran, Welcome Colony and Seelampur-Jafrabad areas. Married women, college girls, young girls, school dropouts, divorced women, married men, employed youth and aged people participated in the screening program.
"We learnt why to make digital films. We also tried to develop our own style and tone to express our feelings for specific target audience", said 26-year-old Sayera Bano from Seelampur. The students completed their scripts in first two days. They drafted a storyboard on the third day, in order to identify visuals to support the story they took photographs, read their scripts and recorded voice-overs on the same day. They were introduced to the basics of image designing/manipulating and moviemaking technologies.
A 27-year-old Monika Chorasia, a married woman from Ballimaran who made her story "Mehndi Rang Layi" (Henna Brought Color [to life]) said, "I am very interested to make some other digital films. I have at least five topics in my mind for the further production. Pollution is my prime concern for the next project."
Story by Aseem Asha Usman, with support from Kiran Mulenahalli
Related themes/countries
· India: News Archive 2006
· 2006
· Content Development: News Archives 2006
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