Image from Sunflower Film Organization’s ‘Let’s Document Cambodia’

Members of the Video4Change Network will conduct masterclasses to share their expertise and experiences at the Digital Rights Asia-Pacific 2023 (DRAPAC23) Assembly in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

To be held from May 22 to 26, 2023, DRAPAC23 brings together over a hundred digital and human rights advocates, academics, journalists, media-makers, artists, designers, technologists, youth advocates, and representatives from marginalised communities from across the region. The event aims to broaden the Asia-Pacific digital rights movement and strengthen solidarity and networks.

Check out the schedule for the masterclasses below. All times are in UTC+7.

Masterclass on Storytelling for Advocacy Filmmakers
May 23, Tuesday, 11AM to 1PM

Visual storytelling is a powerful tool to increase understanding of social issues and to advocate for change. Whether you are interested in or are already working on humanitarian, environmental, or human rights issues, this masterclass will provide the tools to understand how to maximise the impact of your work by creating compelling visual projects for positive change.

This masterclass is for photographers, filmmakers, image-makers, NGO/civil society professionals, and anyone interested in image-making and/or social issues.

About the facilitator:

Claudia Modonesi
Picture People Executive Director

Claudia is a human rights expert and media trainer with a background in film studies and an MA in human rights. She has built her human rights expertise from professional experiences gained in both international organisations and NGOs. She has 18 years of experience in the design, management, and implementation of capacity-building projects related to digital media, advocacy and human rights in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Since 2019, she has been co-directing Picture People, a UK educational charity using visual media and technology to advocate for change.

Masterclass on Impact Production
May 24, Wednesday, 2PM to 4PM

Film has become ever-present in the lives of citizens in the Asia-Pacific and has proven its capacity to emotionally engage people and create movements of change around vital social issues. Impact production – the creation and management of strategic campaigns of social action and movement building around films with the aim to contribute to positive change – is crucial to successful advocacy work.

Through the session, participants will better understand how they can harness film to strengthen their advocacy work. Everyone is invited to share their experiences and receive feedback from experienced filmmakers and impact producers.

About the facilitators:

Demie Dangla
Video and Engagement Coordinator, EngageMedia

Demie is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Manila, Philippines. For a long time, she volunteered as a writer, photographer, and videographer for progressive and collective media groups in Metro Manila, covering grassroots and social issues. She also worked as a researcher and segment producer for “Mukha” (Faces), an award-winning TV documentary show on ABS-CBN News Channel and as an associate producer for an independent film production company, TBA Studios. Currently, she works as the video and engagement coordinator for EngageMedia, as a curator for Cinemata, and as the impact producer for Tech Tales Youth.

Tika Pratiwi
Communications and Development Specialist, WITNESS

Tika is a communications and development specialist with 15 years of experience using visual storytelling and collective memory for social change. She is the Programmatic Communications Coordinator of the Asia-Pacific team at WITNESS. Before joining WITNESS, she worked with EngageMedia, a non-profit organisation that supports digital rights, open and secure technology, and social issue documentary in the Asia-Pacific. From 2019-2023, she worked with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) which led to her latest position as Deputy Manager of Learning and Development. AJAR is a non-profit human rights organisation with a core mandate to prevent and seek just solutions for mass human rights violations in the Asia Pacific region. Tika was previously a fellow (2018) at the Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University in New York City, and participated in the Berlin Seminar of Truth, Justice, and Remembrance by Robert Bosch Foundation in Berlin, Germany.

Sithen SUM
Executive Director, Sunflower Film Organization

Since 2009, Sithen has mobilised thousands of Cambodian film enthusiasts and helped strengthen their filmmaking foundations, producing and showcasing their short films, through intensive workshops, trips to the field, and the Chaktomuk Short Film Festival (CSFF). In late 2018, he graduated from a six-month film-producing course at Busan Asian Film School. After founding Sunflower Film Alliance (SFA) in late 2017 and registering Sunflower Film Organization (SFO) in 2019, he pursued his mission of training Cambodian youth and profiling their works. Since 2021, his focus has been on supporting indigenous youth to document their communities under the theme of “Freedom of Expression and Access to Information”.

All the masterclasses will be held at Chiang Mai University, Thailand. For more information or to register and attend these sessions, visit https://drapac.engagemedia.org/.