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Telling Stories Far From Home
Posted by: greta on October 26, 2006 06:56 PM | Comments (1)
Not really a practical course in how to make international documentaries, this session offers insight into the way that one group does it. It's a way that Stephanie Guyer-Stevens knows is controversial. Call it advocacy journalism if you want, she says. The women who work at Outer Voices are not aiming for objective journalism. It's a straightforward mission: Stephanie meets people who want their stories told and her group cobbles together a small budget and goes overseas to record them. They don't make much effort to balance the stories with oppositional points of view. As she says, when you're recording stories of the victims of a military regime in Burma, what's the use of recording the military's rhetoric?
Stephanie confesses she's not a radio person, she's an activist. But she does offer a few practical tips for the aspiring documentarian:
* Before you go, establish contact with an ally, a fixer, in the field. Have a best friend waiting there who will help you get the inside story.
* Different places have different degrees of access to electricity, so bring extra batteries.
* To prepare for weather, especially if you expect extreme humidity, bring two of every recorder, two of every cable, two of every mic. (To complicate things, Stephanie later recommended bringing as little equipment as possible). Silica gel that comes in shoe boxes will absorb moisture like a charm if you store it with your equipment in a Ziploc bag.
* Besides Outer Voices, pitch international documentaries to Worlds of Difference, or try to find communities who are starting local radio networks with groups like Developing Radio Partners, AMARC, and InterNews.
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