The Video for Change meeting in Mexico and Central America gathered a group of filmmakers, trainers, human rights defenders and activists committed to social development. The success of this meeting should be measured in terms of projects that arise from the interaction between these organizations, and the impact that it may have in their community.
This success will be a good addition to the first victory of this global Video for Change network: to gather different people who seek the same goal and use the same tool in the same physical space for two and a half days. The sharing of good and bad practices, resources and strategies; the interaction between all people involved, and the possibility of coworking to promote a greater impact on society, were great achievements by themselves.
Some of the projects developed within the network of video for change in Mexico and Central America are the following:
- The nourishment of the V4C blog in Spanish (www.v4c.org) with materials, best practices, strategies, issues, solutions and projects developed by the network members.
- The generation of a virtual training network where members can exchange knowledge and experiences continuously.
- The promotion of the use of free software for video editing through manuals and tips for installing and using Kdenlive on different platforms.
- The generation a map to locate where social problems are happening in order to focus support and resources in those areas.
- To develop a documentary video project to inform about the irregularities and social problems generated by mining in the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico.
- To develop core work that focuses on the research that helps combat the problem of mining in Mexico and Central America.
- The generation of communication strategies in order to change the paradigms of production and consumption of information.The internet TV channel of Pacto por Juárez is a free source to upload V4C videos; other available sites are www.multimedialibre.org and www.filmdu.tv
- The organization of a second Video for Change meeting in Mexico, Central and South America in 2014.
At the first Video for Change meeting in the region, we made note of some important issues to further develop and discussed in future meetings:
- Whether the scope of video as a communication tool has a limit. In response to this issue, is important to have a communication strategy with clear objectives, defined scope, specific audience, channels and means.
- The security of the information. Most meeting attendees have sensitive information about subjects and situations that may endanger the life of a person, organization or project; therefore we highlighted the importance of security mechanisms and protocols that must be installed and respected by individuals and organizations.
- One of the main problems faced by organizations in Mexico and Central America is mining. The concessions granted by governments in this region are numerous, and so are the damages to the environment and society. Thus, we seek to develop joint strategies to help address this problem by stating the cases, attracting the attention of society and sharing best practices of the use of video in the fight against mining throughout the region.
The road to social change is long and has different paths, but it is important to know that people are willing to confront the problems faced by society. The first meeting of video for change seeks to be one of these platforms that help joint solutions to address current social problems.