Waking up early to the fresh cool air and bright blue sky of Ubud, Bali was tough when you thought you had to work that day. But eventually, the day kicked off alright at the Global Social Change Film Festival at the ARMA Resort.
After the morning registration, the EngageMedia fellows (Dina Purita Antonio-Jufri, Wensie Fatubun, Fendry Ponimban) went straight to business and joined Jonathan Stack’s documentary filmmaking workshop. The class for the day focused on interviewing techniques and choosing topics that focus on women and the media. The other workshops include Transformative Fundraising, ‘Sell your idea to television’, and ‘Basics of Screenwriting’.
In the afternoon, the EngageMedia crew of two (Enrico Aditjondro and Andrew Lowenthal), was joined by panelists Dina, Wensie and filmmaker Nia Dinata in the screen and chat ‘EM Curated’. The event screened ‘Aisyah Sabi – The Survivor from Aceh’, ‘Of Fowls and Men’, ‘Gaharu: Save the People and Forests of Papua’. As an act of solidarity to the friends of MalaysiaKini, EM also screened ‘A Step Back in Time’. A Malaysian attendee also added the importance of MalaysiaKini website for social change in Malaysia, and that we all need to support the media organization.
The panelists also discussed about video technology in remote areas, why choosing independent space over big corporate media, approaching news sources under distress, and, filming with passion.
The day was wrapped up with the screening of the short film ‘Arma Children’s Dance Group’, and the finalist films ‘Fambul Tok’ and ‘A Village Called Versailles’.