Tech Tales Youth 2: Defending Internet Freedom in Bangladesh and Malaysia
Tech Tales Youth 2 builds on the success of Tech Tales: Films about Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific and Tech Tales Youth Philippines and Thailand, two film collection of 15 short films that highlight human rights stories in the digital age. The project has a strong emphasis on mentorship and peer and community support, with successful applicants provided guidance in shaping their story ideas to align with key digital rights issues relevant to their specific contexts, as well as ways to maximise their films’ impact.
Tech Tales Youth 2 will support filmmakers in Malaysia and Bangladesh, where EngageMedia has forged existing partnerships, to produce 6-8 minute films in various cinematic genres (fiction, documentary, animated works, experimental and hybrid).
The project aims to deepen young people’s awareness and understanding of human rights issues in the digital age through visual media. Through the impact campaigns, Tech Tales Youth aims to provide audio-visual resources to national and regional rights groups and to open frontiers by engaging fresh audiences, networks, and activists for advocacy initiatives.
This Tech Tales round will emphasize digital rights, social issue film advocacy and impact distribution mentorship, as well as peer and community support.
Beyond serving as informative tools, these films play a crucial role in the thematic development of “Digital Rights Films” in programming film festivals and community screenings. These cinematic works aim to hold technology controllers and governments accountable for shaping technology and its legal framework. Going beyond mere portrayal of issues, digital rights films produced by Tech Tales Youth actively advocate for change, educating audiences and inspiring them to take action and support local digital rights initiatives by delivering emotionally engaging messages and offering guidance on how to get involved.
Project Outcomes
- Increased understanding among young changemakers of national and regional digital rights issues, including the principles of open and secure technology
- Increased capacity of young changemakers to design digital rights advocacy, particularly through films produced in collaboration with EngageMedia
- Increased collaboration of young changemakers with local and regional changemakers through various campaigns and events
- Contribute to the thematic development of digital rights films in regional and global film festivals and other community screening initiatives
Outputs
- 6 young filmmakers in Bangladesh and Malaysia capacitated
- 6 short films produced
- Mentorship meetings and peer learning sessions on key digital rights issues conducted
- 7 impact campaigns (distribution and engagement) based on the Impact Toolkit produced
- 2 on-site premieres in Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur
- 6 director-led community screenings and talkback sessions organised
- Impact stories integrated into the Video4Change Impact Toolkit
- Screening in 6 film festivals conducted
- Communications and campaign materials to support impact campaigns (blog posts, graphics, and social media posts) produced
