The 2010 International Emerging Filmmakers Fellowship
The Documentary Center, George Washington University (GWU), DC
May-July, 2010
May-July, 2010
I was one of the 20 finalists selected for the International Emerging Filmmakers Fellowship at The Documentary Center, at the George Washington University (GWU) sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
The International Filmmakers Fellowship was a comprehensive six-week program that was held between May 26-July 8, 2010. During this time I had an opportunity to live and work closely with 19 other fellows from around the world, they are:
Adama Salle (Burkina Faso/Marrakech,Morocco), Arlene Guevara Centeno (Managua,Nicaragua), Arshad Mushtaq (Kashmir,India), Buddhini Ekanayake (Battaramulla,Sri Lanka), Fauzia Khan (Dhaka,Bangladesh), Fernando Gonzales Cruz de Mamari (Rio de Janeiro,Brazil), Hasmik Hovhannisyan (Yerevan,Armenia), Irene Nduta Mungai-Kimuli (Kenya/Kampala,Uganda), Jibran Jawaid (Karachi,Pakistan), Kimeshree (Kim) Munsamy (Cape Town,South Africa), Maria Roman (Bogota,Colombia), Nagy Ismaiel Mohamed Osman (Cairo,Egypt, Olivier Uwayezu (Kigali!City,Rwanda), Pranay Subba Limbu (Kathmandu,Nepal), Ratih Prebatasari (Jawa Tengah,Indonesia), Simon de Swardt (Harare,Zimbabwe), Uliana Konovalova (Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan), Yao Joseph Edem Homadji Ladzekpo (Accra,Ghana), Yinmony Touch (Phnom Penh,Cambodia)
The International Filmmakers Fellowship was a comprehensive six-week program that was held between May 26-July 8, 2010. During this time I had an opportunity to live and work closely with 19 other fellows from around the world, they are:
Adama Salle (Burkina Faso/Marrakech,Morocco), Arlene Guevara Centeno (Managua,Nicaragua), Arshad Mushtaq (Kashmir,India), Buddhini Ekanayake (Battaramulla,Sri Lanka), Fauzia Khan (Dhaka,Bangladesh), Fernando Gonzales Cruz de Mamari (Rio de Janeiro,Brazil), Hasmik Hovhannisyan (Yerevan,Armenia), Irene Nduta Mungai-Kimuli (Kenya/Kampala,Uganda), Jibran Jawaid (Karachi,Pakistan), Kimeshree (Kim) Munsamy (Cape Town,South Africa), Maria Roman (Bogota,Colombia), Nagy Ismaiel Mohamed Osman (Cairo,Egypt, Olivier Uwayezu (Kigali!City,Rwanda), Pranay Subba Limbu (Kathmandu,Nepal), Ratih Prebatasari (Jawa Tengah,Indonesia), Simon de Swardt (Harare,Zimbabwe), Uliana Konovalova (Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan), Yao Joseph Edem Homadji Ladzekpo (Accra,Ghana), Yinmony Touch (Phnom Penh,Cambodia)
The documentary that my teammate Simon and I produced in Washington DC is titled “Oily Hair”. It is a story about the effort took up by the hairdressers in DC to help clean up the Gulf Oil Spill, which was chosen to be screened at the National Press Club during our fellowship. The film was also accepted in an online film festival called “Green Unplugged” in June 2011. The film that was made in New York titled ”I only dance for you”, is a slice of life story about a gay couple who live in Greenwich Village, NYC. The film was selected for the fourth annual Outrate Online Film Festival (OOSFF10).
DC Production and AFI Film Festival 2010
The experience changed the way I made documentaries after that. Not only I learned so much from the Professors there and but also from all the other fellow young filmmakers. It was really an enriching experience to meet so many emerging filmmakers coming together brainstorming and sharing their knowledge and experiences.
Attending the AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival during the fellowship was very significant. It was my very first documentary film festival experience. I was one of the panel for the forum- Teaching Filmmaking, Teaching Justice, which was a part of the the International Documentary Film Conference. I shared the success story of our CitizenJournalism Malaysia (CJMY) program and screened the CJMY montage that I edited. I featured some of our thriving citizen journalist’s experiences and some clips of their work.
We also participated in round-table discussions with some notable US Filmmakers and representatives from major broadcast networks such as Link TV, PBS, ITVS, POV and many more during the Silverdocs festival. It just gave me a glimpse into the actual world of professional documentary filmmaking. I promised myself that someday I must return to the festival with my own film.
Attending the AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival during the fellowship was very significant. It was my very first documentary film festival experience. I was one of the panel for the forum- Teaching Filmmaking, Teaching Justice, which was a part of the the International Documentary Film Conference. I shared the success story of our CitizenJournalism Malaysia (CJMY) program and screened the CJMY montage that I edited. I featured some of our thriving citizen journalist’s experiences and some clips of their work.
We also participated in round-table discussions with some notable US Filmmakers and representatives from major broadcast networks such as Link TV, PBS, ITVS, POV and many more during the Silverdocs festival. It just gave me a glimpse into the actual world of professional documentary filmmaking. I promised myself that someday I must return to the festival with my own film.
NY Production - 'I only Dance For You'
After the fellowship, I extended my stay to visit a couple of places thinking it was going to be my last trip to the US. I visited Media Storm's office and the EP/founder, Brian Storm gave me a tour of his office and it was a dream come true for me. I have been stalking their work since the inception of the MediaStorm. And after Brooklyn's trip, I flew to California, to visit the UC Berkeley campus, where their Master’s student have been producing amazing documentaries aired at FRONTLINE world on PBS online, whom I am a big fan of. My LA host - Sunny, Toni and Sonya were amazing, and they gave me a grand LA tour, visited all the must see places. They were wonderful. And I really thought I would never return again....but the universe had something else planned for me.
And all of this was about 7 years ago. The filmmaker in me still dreaming that one day I will screen my film at AFI Docs! :)