Climate Action Sierra Leone Project #29733

SENAVA - Sierra Leone Mudslide Recovery Film

by Mirabel Pictures / WeOwnTV

Project Report | Jun 21, 2019
Gratitude

By Arthur Pratt | SENEVA Director

Hello GlobalGiving community,

We wanted to write and express our deep grattitude for the support you have given us so far. This is going to be our last progress report on GlobalGiving though and we want to tell you about what we have planned for the SENEVA project.

We have been working with athe Mudslide Affected Persons Organization to organize a community theater performance based on their experience duting and just after the tragic event that killed over 1,000 people in Sierra Leone. The performances both commemorate the incident and to draw the attention of affected communities to the dangers of living in areas prone to future flood related dissasters. In line with this effort the WeOwnTV Freetown Media Centre has also been producing and distributing short video messages to build awareness during the rainy reason.

Freetown and its immediate surrounding used to be a densely forested area home to a huge number of primates and birds. The 12 year civil war saw the influx of refugees from all over the country and the many of these hillside areas have been deforrsted and are now populated in vulnerable areas. This human activity and increased heavy rains have made this a dangerous situation.

The documentary film is now in post production. While w will continue to be engaged with community education work we very much look forward to sharing the film with the world in 2020. The film shows us an African nation confronting compounding issues brought about by poverty and the disastrous effect of climate change. The film chronicles the events of a tragic mudslide on August 14th, 2017 that took the lives of more than 1,000 Sierra Leoneans and incorperates the contributions of community theater work that has been playing an importnat role in how people are coping with this tragedy. The documentary also shows us a unique and inspiring brand of African environmentalism that may bring about a much needed change.

Again, thank you to our community on GlobalGiving for your continued support.

With Grattitude,

Arthur Pratt

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Mar 25, 2019
Sierra Leone mudslide inspires new play

By Arthur Pratt | Director / Producer

Dec 10, 2018
African Filmmakers making waves at IDFA 2018

By Banker White | Executive Director

An African Eye at IDFA 2018

“Artistic freedom is the antidote to lies and deceit. Celebrate and partner with new talent. they help us see hope in a more open hearted manor.” These were the words that IDFA’s new Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia opened the festival with. It was a powerful and inspiring week for our team who was there for the European Premiere of SURVIVORS and as a part of the fist ever West African delegation to the festival. The delegation was made up of SENEVA Director Arthur Pratt (Sierra Leone) who was there with his film SURVIVORS, and four WeOwnTV Filmmaker Fellows.

At the 31st addition of IDFA there was at once a wonderful sense of community and of a world united and through this connection also a deeper recognition that many of the most critical issues facing communities around the world have shared causes; climate related emergency, xenophobia and the rise of totalitarianism. At the festival this year there are 72 countries represented in the overall selection. Our team helped add to this list with three historically underrepresented countries; Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. SURVIVORS in fact was the first film ever directed by a Sierra Leonean to be screened at the festival. Needless to say, the overwhelming feeling amongst our group was pride and gratitude to be given this opportunity and platform to share our work.

SURVIVORS premiered on to a sold out audience and the film was met at each screening with great praise for the production teams bravery and creative vision. Each screening was followed by connected and fascinating Q&A’s that drew out many festival goers who had spent time in the region. The film was also nominated for the prestigious Amsterdam Human Rights Award.

Arthur was invited by DocSociety to present on our outreach work in West Africa. He detailed the West African Screening series we are planning and our oral histories database project WeSurvive. He closed his remarks with a challenge to the room that drew a standing ovation:

”If you want to make movies about us - don’t send in your cameras. Hire us to tell our own stories.”

Our participation at IDFAcademy was a highlight for all. Four WeOwnTV Filmmaker Fellows were invited to participate in the four day program of presentations and meetings with industry professionals. Lawrence (Ghana) was attending with his film The Problem, which explores male identity and the concept of success in modern Africa. John's (Sierra Leone) Life After the Army presents the current plight facing his country’s ex-serviceman. Valentino’ s(Liberia) Inside West Point paints a complex portrait of one of Monrovia’s largest slums. Tyson’s (Sierra Leone) An’Bondo Beykey, which means “Stop Female Genital Mutilation,” takes a very personal look at this heated social issue in Sierra Leone through the story of a close friend of the filmmaker’s who died from this practice.

The WeOwnTV Filmmaker Fellowship is a film fund and professional development program supporting the production of independent documentaries directed by West African filmmakers. The program provides filmmakers with funding for their project, filmmaking (creative labs) labs, one-on-one mentoring, professional development workshops and networking opportunities.

SUPPORT WEST AFRICAN FILMMAKERS

At the festival we made many new friends and of course reunited with comrades of old. We met the team from First Hand Films who now rep international sales for SURVIVORS. Many of our funders were also at the festival to celebrate the success of SURVIVORS and our new round of fellows. We raised our glasses with Beadie and Jess from DocSociety and Tony, Sparkle and Rebecca from the Bertha Foundation; Isabel and the entire IDFA Bertha team who helped us immensely to navigate the VISA process and of course provided inspiration and guidance during IDFAcademy; there was a wonderful GoodPitch Kenya reunion (Docubox’s Mudamba Mudamba pictured with Banker White and Arthur Pratt at left) the legendary Steven Markowitz, and at a party hosted by TFI’s Jose Rodriguez the night before we all returned home.

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