OUR VOICE, OUR VIEW Global Migration Film Festival PARTICIPATORY VIDEO Project

OUR VOICE IN OUR VIEW Global Migration Film Festival Participatory Video Project September 2017 – August 2018

A report prepared by Fernanda Baumhardt/NORCAP and Amanda Nero/IOM, GMFF February 2019

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OUR VOICE, OUR VIEW Global Migration Film Festival PARTICIPATORY VIDEO Project

85 Migrant Participants 22 Nationalities 6 Ethnies, 15 Languages 6 Countries , 5 Regions 150+ hours of Community Training 12 hours of footage filmed with communities’ hands and perspectives 6 Participatory Films and 6 Behind the Scenes videos produced 17 IOM Missions and Partnering Institutions involved 100+ Students of Univ. of Roraima introduced to a Participatory Communications method

Funded and supported by:

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All photos by Amanda Nero/IOM Participating IOM Offices and Missions IOM Media and Communications Division at HQ in Geneva IOM Jordan Emergency Response and Media and Comms Division IOM South Sudan Pyschosocial Support Prgramme and Media and Comms Division IOM Brazil Venezuela Migration Response IOM Latin America Regional Office, Media and Comms Division IOM Madagascar Counter-Traffick Programme IOM Afghanistan Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Progr. and Media and Comms Div. Participating Institutions: Caritas Jordan – NGO European Film Festival Jordan La Roseraie Association, Geneva - NGO SJMR, Brazil – Civil Society Fraternidade Humanitaria Internacional - NGO SETRABES, Roraima, Brazil – State government Federal University of Roraima, Brazil University of Juba, South Sudan Ministry of Social Affairs, Madagascar Dehlis Charity with the Compassionate, Afghanistan - NGO Funding and Technical Support - IOM Development Fund (IDF) - NORCAP Standby Capacity deployed a Senior Communications with Communities/Participatory Video expert that co-designed the project, co-facilitated the processes and produced all video materials.

- Global Migration Film Festival Director, Amanda Nero acting as Project Manager, PV co-facilitator, Photographer and Festival Director 3

Background From September 2017 to August 2018 the International Organisation for Migration’s Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) took an innovative approach and directly engaged communities in the frontlines of migration in participatory filmmaking. The aim was to help migrants reflect, direct and document their own narratives without being directed by professional filmmakers but rather by their own perspectives about their journeys and situation.

During this period, six Participatory Video (PV) projects were conducted with migrants, IDPs and hosting communties in Jordan, South Sudan, Switzerland, Brazil/ Venezuela boarder, Madagascar and Afghanistan. The profile of the participants was quite broad and diverse including youth, young men and women, mothers, fathers, women victims of human trafficking, farmers, academics from host communitity and indigenous peoples. Many fled their home places in search of protection and economic estability. Others wished to reunite with their families. Some were pressed to leave by conflict and a challenging climate. Different causes and stories that required a similar level of courage and strenght. The GMFF is expanding the traditional limits of a film festival that usually focuses on disseminating narratives. The Festival is merging with the storytellers and their worlds by joining hands on the ground to help them make their films, in dignity. Recognizing migrant communities far beyond than being a subject.

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To come to the encounter of these communities, the Festival partnered with different IOM Missions by offering the opportunity to collaboratively experiment a non-traditional bottom-up filmmaking and communications with communities method. It was a win-win for all the involved: the process would, in the same time, build the capacity of communities, support programmes and local teams and also generate unprecedented communication products for media and advocacy.

Another key partnership was with NORCAP Standby Roster who was keen to support such an innovative innitiave and promptly assigned Fernanda Baumhardt, a senior Communications with Communities Expert with 10 years of experience in Participatory Filmmaking around the world, to help design the project, facilitate de processes and produce the media products. She worked hand –in-hand with Amanda Nero, Founder Director of the Festival. Together, as the PV team, they travelled across five regions and countries to reach out migrant and hosting communities. The two ladies, that by coinciendence have similar backgrounds - born in Brazil and graduated from Journalism School - have faced many challenges and troubleshoots. Thoughout the journey they have also posed many questions to their ownselves and to each other.

They have reflected on what they have seen on the ground and discussed many of the lessons learned, that can be potentially valuable to other practitioners.

This piece aims in a simple and direct language, such as spoken on the ground, to recap the Participatory Video processes, higlight some of the passages that stood out and share some of the lessons and insights collected from the field. The process of writing was a bit of a challenge as it happened in parts, some during and some many months after. No specific time was assigned during the project for the drafting of this report, therefore the authors apologise in advance for the flaws, differences in length, sections and also narrative style. They did their best writing it mostly while carrying on other projects and deployments.

Amanda Nero/ IOM (left) and Fernanda Baumhardt (right) in an IDP camp in Herat, Afghanistan during the last leg of the PV project. (Aug 2018) Photo by Aziz Abdullah / IOM

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Why Participatory Video as the chosen methodology Participatory Video (PV) is a Communication and Community Engagment technique and Participatory Communication Method recommended by CDAC (Communicating with Disaster Affected Populations). PV enables affected communities to reflect, identify, direct and film their own narratives and stories in the way they perceive as the most relevant and appropriate to portrait their realities. PV is more than making a film product: it is a process that stimulates a high-level of community engagement, empowerment and ownership.

The training method is designed to facilitate community-to-community training on a horizontal and spiral way.

It creates safe spaces for dialogue and expression of perspectives in a constructive way. Communities are trained to train themselves (peer-to-peer) to “show and tell” their own stories using their own hands to film what and how they think is most important. One of the ultimate goals of the process is to develop the participants’ capacities to listen, to engage in constructive dialogue and to build consensus based on guiding editorial principles defined by the group. Participatory Video methodology is more than producing video products, it is a process that fosters social transformation. As written by Gumucio in his article The New Communicator (2001),

“In social change and development, the process of communication with the people and within de communities is more important than the printed or audiovisual aids that may emerge from that dynamic. Is in the process of communication and participation that social change starts to happen.”

PV has been widely documented by academics and researchers around the world. A definition by Maneno and Mengi (1999) describes:

“A script-less video production process, directed by community members, moving forward in interactive cycles of shooting reviewing and aiming at creating video narratives that communicate what those who participate in the process really want to communicate, in a way that they think is appropriate”

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Preparatory stage: selecting potential IOM Missions to participate As part of the preparatory steps to roll-out phase 1 of the participatory video initiative, Amanda Nero shared the project description with interested IOM Country Missions. IOM Jordan swiftly reacted demonstrating great interest to become Country #1 to kick-off the PV project. The local MCD team rapidly presented and approved the project internally and articulated collaboration with the local partner Caritas Jordan that directly works with youth migrants from the region. Planning calls and emails followed, including discussions with the Chief of Mission and the Emergency Response Coordinator that contributed with key inputs to the program design so activities were in synergie with oin-going programmes and local reality. Not too long after the first exchanges, the teams agreed on a timeframe to start rolling in only two weeks time.

The confirmation from IOM South Sudan as participating Country #2 was received while the PV team was finalizing activities in Jordan. The experience running the first PV in Jordan was valuable to collect lessons and provide insights into South Sudan PV plan. Following similar communication exchange, the location Malakal and a timeframe was agreed starting less than three weeks after Jordan’s completion.

For Country #3, after the experience in Jordan and South Sudan, the PV team disscused that it would be important to bring in a different angle and engage migrants at their final destination and Geneva was chosen as it is a final destination to many migrants. It is also a city known as the humanitarian capital as it hosts Palais des Nations (one of UN HQs) and many agencies and organizations, including IOM and UNHCR. As the idea evolved, the team thought this would be a great opportunity to have the participants come in and present their film in person at the Global Migration Film Festival in Geneva. This time as there was no IOM Country office involved, we partenered with La Roserarie Association that works with migrants. They were keen to integrate the PV project as a year-end special activity.

Phase 2 of the PV project happened between June and August 2018. Country #4, Brasil came on board with the incentive of a DTM expert supporting the Venezuela Migration Regional Response. The PV team travelled to Boa Vista, north of Brazil in the end of May 2018. Following, Madagascar became Country #5 with it’s Counter-Traffick Programme and the team travelled to Antananarivo in July 2018. The selected Country #6 was Afghanistan with its Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programme. The PV team travelled to Kabul and Herat in August 2018.

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Before we begin, a brief look on some of the feedback received by IOM Country Teams and authorities on the impacts of the GMFF Participatory Video Project: “The participatory methodology was really powerful, as it allowed to share very shocking testimonies. Also, it was very positive for the beneficiaries who learned to use the cameras but also, they learned that they did not need to be afraid of telling their stories and that they could help preventing future trafficking situations by raising awareness. At the end of the activity, all of them were very proud of their work.”

(IOM Madagascar, Counter-Trafficking Program Coordinator)

“This film touches deeply. I congratulate the participating women for their courage and for making this in only four days. I hope this can be effective to raise awareness in Madagascar” (Rep. of the Ministry of Population, Special Protection and Women’s Empowerment, Madagascar)

“This activity was important for IOM Afghanistan because it gave migrants and host community members a voice. In a country like Afghanistan that has seen prolonged conflict, migrants often appear in the media and in reports through the eyes of someone interviewing them, but are only rarely given the chance to give their own opinion of how they view themselves and their situation, and most importantly: how they want themselves and their situation to be portrayed. Additionally, it fostered social cohesion between migrants and the host community by allowing both groups to view the challenges of the other” (IOM Afghanistan, Communications Officer)

“The activity helps improve social cohesion. The participatory style of preparing the video helps people train their social skills, to make joint and team agreed decisions, readiness to compromise their own interests in order to prioritize the team benefits. The fact that they have shared their own personal stories and feelings amongst themselves with the final objective of the creation of a short film paved the way for more comprehension and understanding of the “other” and the realization that there are a lot more similarities than differences. It therapeutic effect for the beneficiaries, involved - telling their stories and listening to the stories of their friends, neighbors helps them to reflect the experience that they together have gone through.

The creative exercise helps them express feelings and ideas in the original way. The non-judgmental atmosphere and focus on collective creation of something unique, something made only by them and reflecting their own life definitely has a positive effect on their psychosocial well-being.”

(IOM Malakal, South Sudan, Psychosocial Support Coordinator)

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“The method is collaborating to strengthen the integration of the two indigenous groups living in the same shelter. I felt emotional with their reactions watching their own videos. It was about empowerment and selfrecognition” (Representative from Labor and Social Welfare Secretary/ Setrabes, Roraima State, Brazil)

Participatory Video Processes – Highlights by Country Country N.1: Jordan - Strenghthening social cohesion of youth migrants and host community members The GMFF PV project started in September 2017 in Amman with the leadership of the Syria Emergency Response Team and the Media and Communication division. They identified Caritas as the local partner to co-host this project and the charitable organization was immediatly on board. Together, they have identified participating youth coming from different contexts and backgrounds. Five participants were from Amman - the hosting community. There was a youth from Somalia whom had lived in Iraq until the war hit then fled with his family to Jordan. There were four youth of Kurdistan origin from Iraq, all fled the war after their homes were bombarded. One Eritrean young man that had fled the crisis is his country along with his mother. Three Syrian youth, two boys and a girl, that have fled the bombings in Aleppo. The group was gender and religion balanced.

The participatory video workshop ran for five full days and included the following subjects and activities: 1.Migration theme discussion; 2.Storytelling techniques; 3. Photography; 4.Eeditorial-line; 5.Discussing and selecting inspiring stories; 6.Participatory video training; 7.Filming their own stories; 8.Participatory video editing; 9.Community screening; 10. Feedback

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On the first day, it was possible to observe a certain self-segregation of the group by nationality and gender. As an ice breaker aiming at bringing a sense of unity, the facilitators lead the “human web” exercise. Standing up in circle and with the help of a cotton thread, they waved and connected each other’s commonalities. They formed a thread based on common likes, such as food, music and hobbies. All the facilitators participated in the activity as it helps build bond and trust, a key element and base of partipatory video.

During the group work activities, space was created so they could interact directly with “the other”. On the first two days such an interaction would only last during the training - during the breaks they would go back to their own segregated small groups. From the third day onwards, the dynamics started to drastically change. It became more fluid as they started to mix themselves and remained in friedly chats during the breaks. The majority of participants were experimenting filmmaking for the first time. On the first round of trying the camera and microphone for the first time, they were shy and not everyone was keen to speak out. Abukar from Eritrea and Takhir from Somalia were engaged and started, helping ignite the group. Two of the four participants from Syria were energetic to speak about the situation in Syria. At certain moments, the four young ladies from Jordan, the hosting community, showed more interest in the narratives about how was life in Syria before the war and how difficult it probably was to watch on television the destruction of your own country. A sense of compassion clearly started to emerge.

The two social workers from Caritas, supporting the group, took more of an observation role onintervening when necessary. The facilitation team briefed them on the methodology steps and kept them updated on what was coming next. Amanda Nero gave an express photography training which was also appreciated by members of IOM team. She focused on light and the different framing angles that could be used for different purposes. The group enjoyed it and started to get more interested also on the technical side of the audiovisual.

One of the most interesting activities to observe was how the group that was still not completed united, was able to develop one common editorial line. The participants were organized in three groups and they discussed and listed the key words that editorially would guide the essence of their video. They have created an “editorial wall” using one of the side walls of the training room. The facilitators lead a group discussion to help them rank the most important key words that would guide their storytelling narratives.

The editorial wall exercise naturally lead the group into discussing the theme of their film. By refering back to the key words posted on the editorial wall, they clearly noticed that they did not want to speak about sadness but instead, focus on the human side of war. On a spontaneous creative burst that emerged from the momentum and safe space, the participants begun energetically proposing film titles. At this point there was a not of noise and interaction in the room. The atmosphere was light and participants were engaged and moticated. Not later than 15 minutes of a non-estructured creative brainstorm, the group reached consensus. Their film was going to be called “ Together United, Not Fragmented” ” Following, in small groups, they started circles of spontaneous storytelling inspired by the words that constructed the editorial wall. But they were not constrained by the words on the wall, it was more a guiding 10

tool to help them navigate in a similar road. There was no set order to speak. Whoever felt like telling a story somehow connected to the edititorial line, would spontaneously stand up and tell it to their own group. The majority was really hooked in listening to the stories of their peers, and the atmosphere in the room clearly shifted. There was laughter, seriousness and also tears. Human emotions seemed to be bringing the group closer together. The facilitators steped away giving them the space and time required for that part of the exercise to flow. In the same time there were there, ready to support if needed. When the groups signeled they were all finished, they listed on a flip chart the name of their pre-selected stories. One group surprisingly listed nine stories. They then moved to the next step of the exercise which was to select the three stories that mostly touched they hearts and were closely aligned with their editorial wall. They attributed a short titlle to each selected story and taped them beside the editorial wall. Each participant was given two post its/votes so they could select the two best stories in their individual perspective. They could not vote on the stories of their own group.

From this process, three most voted stories emerged. The facilitators held a short group discussion to verify the selection, to check overall consensus and if there was any resistance rising. This is an important step of the methodology as those are the stories that shall be fimed by the whole group. Consensus is very important here or else the collective filmmaking process might be compromised.

The next step was to assist the participants organize themselves into small production teams. The storytellers usually take a leading role here as they start “recruting� roles. For instance, the story by Abukar required two other people to support acting the story, so Abukar was pitching this roles to the participants to see who would be interested in taking part. When they reached consensus on who was doing what, they begun planning how they would film the stories. Important: we usually don’t work with story-board as we believe the environment where they will film will help emerge and create the scenes. So the technique here is to take them to a film set that offers multiple backgrounds as a white canvas. We took them to a park that offered multiple elements and backgrounds, such as rocks to sit down, trees grouped in an almost circle and dry land that inspired the drought scene in the desert. On the way to the park, inside an IOM bus, the group sang songs out loud in a frindly atmosphere. Social cohesion was deepening and the filming process developed quite well. The storytellers and their production teams worked in great sintony. After the three stories were fully filmed, we closed the day by doing a quick check out and review of the following day which was participatory editing. The session was held on a different Caritas Center in Amman. It was very spaceous to accommodate the community screening that would follow.

Editing a video with a big youth group demands a lot of listening and mediation skills as participants must reach consensus on the editing cuts and sequences. To facilitate the process, we started editing by storyteller using the same order of the stories filmed. Each production team worked with the facilitator and editor reviewing their own footage and directing the cuts. The storyteller has the final word as the protagonist and director of that scene. The editing session with this group went particularly well. It was flooded with joy and

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they were very excited and happy with the results of the filming. In paralel of the editing session the participants filmed their feedback on the PV activity.

The community screening was very warming as the 11 youth participants stepped up and presented their film in the front of the larger audience. We also held a short Q&A session so the audience could adreess questions to the youth filmmakers in the end of the film. In the end of the day, an IOM Jordan team member lead the group in singing songs that ended up being recorded to be inserted as background music in the final version of their video.

On December 18 International Migrants’ Day, the film made by the youth in Jordan premiered in Geneva, on the very special night and high-level audience, including IOM management and other UN agencies senior representatives. During the screening, the PV team posted on social media a live video clip of their film being projected on the big screen in Geneva, tagging each of the youth filmakers in Jordan as well as the IOM Jordan team. They were thrilled to follow live their film being projected on the big screen of a cinema in Switzerland.

Some of the challenges faced: During the activities, some of the challenges that emerged were related to cultural differences. Some participants verbalized sensitive comments related to religion and other nationalities. The first day was the most challenging, as some of the participants were resistant to accept other views and opinions. The facilitators managed to have one-to-one dialogue to incentivize openness and trust.

On the second day there was an episode related to defending their own religion and laying out comparisons between Christianism and Islamism. The facilitators again intervened having private conversations with the respective participants for an active listening and engaging trust following an open group discussion on the importance of respecting diversity without comparing better or worst.

The third day flowed better as the group was more united. They had begun focusing on just being youth giving less importance to the nationality, backgrounds and language. It was interesting to observe the participants from Jordan becoming more active listeners to the stories from the youth that have fled the wars in Syria and Iraq. Compassion clearly emerged out this participatory video exercise along with a sense of “we are all from the same soil�, as described by one of the youths that immediately triggered others to shake their heads in agreement.

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Jordan PV Media Products: Photos of the Process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iom-migration/albums/72157699231964985 Participatory Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292267307 Behind the Scenes Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292271373

Country N.2: South Sudan - Participatory video for psychosocial support In October 2018 the participatory video exercise took place in Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) site. There we worked with community members of the psychosocial program implemented by IOM. The selected group was gender-balanced and all the participants were from the same ethnicity, the Shilluk people. One of the concerns of the psychosocial support coordinator was to encourage the women to step forward, actively participate and speak out. In some cultures such as this, women tend to get overshowed by men and facilitators must take this particularities into account and helping bring balance. The overall profile of the participants was Internally Displaced Persons that in 2013 fled ethnic conflict in their village located less than 10 km from the Protection of Civilian Camp (PoC) where they have been living since. Despite the difficulties and persecution some may still feel, many demonstrated a strong resilient side such as Augustino: “My name is Augustino, from South Sudan. I studied up to secondary school. I am married. And I hope people can live peacefully as brothers. I wish for the future, peace should be within our communities and we should live like in others countries without discrimination. We have lost many things and properties, loved ones, but let us not loose hope, we shall continue. I call up on the people that we should live as we had been living before.”

The participatory video workshop had its program designed considering Malakal’s participants’ profile and context, very different than Jordan. In Malakal, the PV workshop took place inside the PoC site, at the main room of the psychosocial support facilities. It was very hot but the room had air running in between the fenced windows that attracted many curious that peaked to see all those cameras and cables going around in the hands of fellow members. We had the support of three members of the psychosocial support team, all from the community. After the end of day 1, the PV team took a walk around the PoC, accompanied by the local team, to observe the context, the living conditions and community. The workshop rolled out well during the five days of activities. The assigned translator was a member of the psychosocial team and the community, so he knew the participants well which facilitated the overall engagement.

Clearly one of the most interesting parts to note was the first moments of discovery of the filming equipment by the participants, specially in such a context where televison and video is almost inesistent and media consumption is limited to community radio. The facilitator posed the video equipment bags in the center of the circle and invited volunteers to begin experimenting. Two young man came first and facilitator estimulated the women to also join exploring the microphone and headphones. Four women came and started trying to connect the hand microphone with the cable. They begun asking the translator that at this also acst as a co-facilitator, how they could connect it to the camera. The facilitator avoids delivering the right answer and continues to estimulate participants to discover by themselves by helping each other and observing the pieces of the equipment. For this process to successfully flow, a key element is time. And also space. The facilitator remains outside the circle taking certain distance of the process, switching between supporting words to ignite the process of discovery and moments of silence and space that are key to 13

strenghten participants’ self-trust and sufficiency. The vision here is to offer support without coming in too close. It’s a balance that has no set formula but rather it is based on observation and feeling. Ideally the process should develop with minimal interference with the facilitator coming inside the circle only when highly necessary.

By the end of 20 minutes that flies, all the equipment was connected and set up by the participants. They seemed ready, and gave signals through their confident postures, to start learning the first camera commands: turn on and off, press record, press pause, press stop and zoom. These basic commands are tought to one of the participants that after spending a few minutes experimenting them, goes on to transfer his experience to the next fellow friend. Usually this process flows very organically, without any ordering, but rather, letting they organize themselves. Team spirit rises. Facilitator’s role here is to strenghten it and not take charge. A practice that requires beyond experience and technical knowledge, sensibility, flexibility and open mind.

Micro-managers are not good participatory facilitators and must undress themselves of the old skin before giving up their editorial control.

After the basic camera training, participants started to practice freely speaking in front of the camera in different styles such as singing, presenting themselves in a reporter manner, speaking about their families or interviewing a community member. After everyone had a go, we stop so they can watch their first footage, discuss, reflect and learn. This step is key in PV as they learn with the mistakes, such as the disconnected microphone cable that did not record the audio. When they look at them selves speaking with no sound coming out, they learn the lesson that is highly likely to not happen again, as they want to hear their voice, loud and clear.

On the next day we moved to content discussion using the same techniques as in Jordan. Groups discussion to define the editorial line and guiding key words, storytelling, more discussions to select the most inspiring stories and consensus building when conflicting opinions stuck the advancement of the group. This is all developed bottom-up with the facilitator guiding them move forward always reinforcing they command the process. It’s a very fluid process that if we were to draw a scale of more or less participatory, the graph would go up and down according to the level of engagement, ownership and leadership that rises. In Malakal the level of engagement was high and fast. It was like they were more than ready to take charge of their own

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lives and stories. The protagonists confidently moved to the next stage of filming the selected stories, completed in one full day. The filming locations chosen included the home of one the participants and a water point. As the whole group walked around the site, it was interesting to observe other’s reactions to the scene. They were carrying the equipment around, helping each other set up the tripod and level the camera for the right framing. In the surroundings, curious children observing in laughter and many dogs barking out fearing the unknown.

The participatory editing session lasted 6h and was carried out on the same day of the community screening, that had a full room. During the editing, the group was glued to the computer screen and actively participated in selecting the scenes and ordering the stories. They chose an original Shuluk song as background music, recorded a few days earlier during the traditional dance group presentation at the center of the site. They were clearly very proud of crafting their own portray, highlighting their culture and traditions. It’s very important to note, and reflect that this people have been persecuted by a rival tribe. But instead of film putting together a film that cried out, they crafted a video that transmitted human values and strenght. They gave their film the title: Transforming negative into positive.

The film was screened at the University of Juba following a students debate. There was an article about the GMFF and participatory video made by the community member in Malakal published by the Juba Monitor.

South Sudan PV Media Products: 15

Photos of the Process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iom-migration/albums/72157699164843055 Participatory Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292275123 Behind the Scenes Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292274221

Country N.3: Switzerland - Participatory video to promote integration and social cohesion of migrants and refugees in Geneva After carrying out two PV processes in the frontlines of migration, it was an intersting switch in perspective to listen the stories of migrants’s reasons and motivations to come to Switzerland. We partnered with La Rosaraie, a institution that has been supporting migrants integrate by giving legal guidance, cultural and French language classes with no formal enrollment procedures but instead with an open door policy that receives anyone willing to dedicate time and effort to engage in the different classes and workshops.

The PV activity was presented as a special end of the year workshop and opportunity for migrants to come forward, speak out, share their stories and learn about each other’s journeys challenges, some with many similarities. Eleven people with diverse backgrounds enrolled, including migrants from Ecuador, Peru, Moldovia, Brazil, Colombia, Iraq, Eritrea and Sudan.

One very positive aspect is that La Rosaraie had assigned a tutor to co-facilitate the activity. It was a great opportunity to transfer knowledge both-ways. We kept the same open door policy of the institution and anyone was welcome to join, at any time. To integrate the new commers, the facilitators took a methodogical approach of starting the day by inviting of selected participants that were constantly present, to recap and share basic learnings with the newcommers. We did that very hands-on, handling over the equipment and introducing the basic comands in practice. Everybody learned together.

Due to the cold weather of early winter, the PV team switched between working half day inside a training room and the other half training and filming ouside which was challenging in the days temperature dropped bellow zero. But the scenary chosen provided beautiful shots. The institute is located by a river bank and participants were happy to endure in exchange of filming their stories in a beautiful natural environment.

After three days of practicing and filming, the group moved to the final step of participatory editing. We were back in the same room and the doors remained open, so many curious newcommers kept dropping in to check what was happening. Many had never experienced video editing before and were amazed to see how 16

much can be done with a professional sofware. Their film came out strong with three inspiring stories. The institution organized a big video screening on the second week of January when activities restarted after the end of the year break.

But before that, a very special screening happened during the the official GMFF programme at Impavct Hub in Geneva. The migrant filmmakers were thrilled to for the first time introduce their onw film at a film festival public screening. They all sat together at the first rows and enjoyed receiving the aplauses. Some members of the audience posed questions and thanked them for having the courage and dedication to share their stories that usually are told in a different way by external interlocutors, not from the same point of view of those who actually live it. It was inspiring to see this happening for the first time at the GMFF. 2017 PV missions completed.

Geneva PV Media Products: Participatory Video: https://vimeo.com/292277774 Behind the Scenes Video: https://vimeo.com/292271703

Country N.4: Brazil/ Venezuela - Participatory Video to promote integration and social cohesion amongst indigenous migrants In May/June 2018, the PV team arrived in Boa Vista, Roraima, north of Brazil to carry out a PV process with indigenous migrants from Venezuela living in indigenous shelter set up to protect the Venezuelan migrants of the ethinies Warao and EĂąepas. These indigenous people were affected by the situation in Venezuela and have left the country in search of basic needs such as food and medicine. The State of Roraima has registered the highest number of Venezuelans who have entered Brazil recently. According to the Brazilian Government, until April 2018 over 40,000 Venezuelans had applied for the regularization of their migration status in the country.

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IOM has been supporting the Brazilian authories in the response to the migration flow from Venezuela. This PV activity aimed at supporting IOM Regional Plan of Action in the following workstreams: 1. Social-economic integration and 2. Direct assistance and vulnerability. And it supporting IOM Brazil on the specific lines of work: 1. Integration and 2. Strenghten community capacity in camps in organization and leadership. IOM has carried out a research about the rights and legal status of indigenous migrants in Brazil, especially the Warao.

Through the study, IOM emphasizes the legal tools available to grant equal treatment to Brazilian and Venezuelan indigenous groups and focus on the Warao demands to reshape public policies to their specific needs, safeguarding their indigenous identify.

Initially, the activity was planned to be done with a group of Waraos only. But when the facilitators made their first visit to the shelter and discussed with the local organizations and authorities working at the shelter, they were informed there was also a second indigenous ethnicity living there - the Eñepas, a minority making about 10% of the shelter population. It was clear the need of including the Eñepas in the participatory video activity otherwise unintentionally they could reinforce a potentially existing segregation. According to Emerson Rodrigues, anthropologist working at Pintolândia, Eñepas and Waraos don’t interact much amongst themselves. As the Eñepas are a minority and their nature is more closed and conservative, it is difficult to engage with them. Consequently, they are somehow marginalized. Taking into consideration such a context, the project had to be reorganized and adapted to incorporate two participatory video processes in very limited time. Instead of doing a four days training with the Waraos, this period was split between the two groups. The activities were adapted to the new timeframe and the facilitators worked with both groups in a total of 20 people, 12 Waraos and 8 Eñepas. This initiative aimed to empower and amplify their voices and foster social cohesion between the different ethnic groups and communities living in the shelter.

It was a very fluid process with participants coming and going in their onw pace and time according to their daily routines. With indigenous people the most impactful moment is when they touch the camera for the first time and when they watch themselves. The profile was quite diverse, there were youth, adults and elders working together to make their film. Many children watched the process while playing games in the nearby space. Through games and exercises, Waraos and Eñepas learned how to use the video equipment and decided the theme and stories they would like to film and share with the audience. In complete consensus, both groups wanted to talk about themselves - “This is our film that will present ourselves us we are.”

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After completing the training with the Waraos, the team facilitated the same process with the Eñepas. To invite them to take part on the activity, we offered to the caciques the opportunity to make a film with whatever message they would like to share with the world. They took longer to understand what the activity was about. The PV team showed photos of the Warao process in the computer as a technique to get them interested. Only five participants wanted to take part but in the end a few more showed up.

Through a participatory editing process, the participants, assisted by the facilitator, edited their videos. It was a very fluid process that started with only a few of them and not as a large group - many were still involved on their daily routines. We started reviewing and editing the material individually, that means, with each interviewee. This method worked well and as the day advanced, others arrived and the group was complete so they could review the full video and give feedback. They liked very much the result and were laughing and chatting with each other as they watched themselves. They also discussed and chose the title of their video. It did not take long to reach consensus.

Screening: An indigenous Camp Cinema - A big audiovisual camp dialogue.

The screening brought together more than 300 indigenous people of Warao and Eñepas ethnical groups, local authorities and NGOs representatives gathered at the large maca room “redário” at Pintolandia Shelter. The event was organized by IOM, local partners and authorities to present two videos. Following the screening, members of the participatory video making process spoke about how they felt after watching themselves on the big screen along with fellow community members.

“I enjoyed that we watched the two different films: the Waraos and the Eñepas. This was incredible.

We have never looked at ourselves like this, through a video camera. It was like a big meeting between the two ethnicities living here” Baudilio Centeno, a Warao participant.

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During 2018, two other screenings were organized in Boa Vista by IOM and partners that brought together experts, academics, human rights and migration specialists. The filmmakers presented their film and participated in the debate after the session. The second event was organized during the 3rd edition of the Global Migration Film Festival in Boa Vista that happened at the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR).

Transferring knowledge – a special class at Federal University of Roraima The PV tem was invited to give a special class to the students of Social Communication/Journalism and International Relations at the Federal University of Roraima. The aim was to transfer knowledge and experience on humanitarian communications, taking the opportunity to raise awareness of migration. The title of the special class was ‘Photography and Participatory Video in Humanitarian Crisis’ and it highlighted the different aspects of bottom-up and community oriented approached to communications that is peoplecentered and not agency-visibility oriented.

The overall feedback received from the professors and students of UFRR was very positive and that the lecture had brought a new world into the atendees. Because it was so well received they invited the team to give two more lectures so in total more than 100 students received the learnings. As Boa Vista has been highly impacted by the influx of Venezuelan migrants, it was an important tool also to raise awareness of humanitarian principles, migrants rights and respect for their dignity. The Journalism students were particularly interested in both subjects: humanitarian photography and participatory video. Some got in touch after class to exchange contacts and follow the team on social media.

Some of the main challenges faced: - Not easy to establish a high community engagement with such a content community profile and context in a very limited time - Participants came and go, the group was organic and changed frequently, what required extra effort attention from the facilitators on reintegration and recap to keep consistency.

- High-level of surrounding noise, including big construction machines that led to dispersion.

- Forbidden to film at the shelter premises. We were restricted to a medium size tent with limited options for filming background that limited creative storytelling.

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The Warao and Eñepas have their own rhythm. Working with indigenous groups require time, which we did not have it.

Eñepas did not speak Spanish fluently and as we did not have a translator, some were limited in expressing themselves. They were also very shy and it took longer to build their confidence.

Boa Vista Media Products: Photos of the Process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iom-migration/albums/72157672629194048 Participatory Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292191777 Behind the Scenes Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292198761 Press Briefing Note: https://www.iom.int/news/iom-gives-voice-venezuelan-indigenous-communities-through-participatory-video-screenings

Country N.5: Madagascar - Participatory Video in support of Counter-Trafficking Programme For the first time in Madagascar, victims of human trafficking were empowered and enabled by IOM to become the filmmakers of a counter-trafficking film aimed at helping raise awareness of a subject that in many communities is still unknown or considered a taboo. A group of ten Malagasy women overcame their fear to speak out and spent four days directing and filming their real stories of forced-marriage and domestic slavery.

During the week-long workshop the group learned tips on storytelling, had discussions on editorial line – what to say and how to say it, learned photography and framing techniques and how to film and edit. One of the exercises was storytelling amongst the participants to help create bondage, empathy, find commonalities between the different narratives. They worked in groups and reached consensus on which stories were stronger and should be included in their film. In order to portrait themselves in dignity without risking to expose their identities, the majority opted for protecting their faces either using counter-light techniques or covering up with locally made tissues. They have also embraced a creative solution of presenting themselves without revealing their real names, but names of flowers grown in Madagascar instead. “Dalia”, “Ovy Ala”, “Menakely”, “Mavo Adala”, “Rose” and all the other members of the “Flora filmmakers”, produced the short film Fleurs de l’Espoir (Flowers of Hope) - a 15 minutes collage of testimonials portrayed in seven parts: Poverty; Lies and Frauds; Slavery and Abuse; Violence; Forced Marriage; Search for Freedom and Hope.

Clara Perez, Counter-Trafficking Project Coordinator mentioned that “for the first time, we inverted the way of communicating about trafficking in persons: instead of us talking, we sat, observed and heard the victims of trafficking putting across in their own words and with their own means, their experiences. With that, we want to put emphasis on the individuals’ agency to overcome their trauma, and show that if you have been a victim at some point of your life, you are – as a human being – deserving of so much more, and we will not let you be catalogued as a victim for the rest of your life”

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Community screening A community screening and avant-première was organized by IOM and the participants to present the film exclusively to their close friends, family members and selected partnering authorities. The mother of “Mavo Adala”, Blondine R., 55, believes the film is very useful to help prevent other young women to fall in the trap human trafficking like her daughter. When asked which part mostly touched her, she exalts a sense of pride and says, “I liked when my daughter said women must be strong, confident and help empower themselves.

This really inspired me.” The awareness-raising component of the film was also mentioned by one of the participants, who stated: “It has shocked me and my friends. We did not know about this problem. It has brought many questions: What can we do about this? How can we help?”

High-level screening A few months later in Antananarivo, on the occasion of the official inauguration of he “Mitsinho”, a shelter for victims of trafficking located in a central neighborhood of the capital city, IOM and the Ministry of Social Affairs along with the participants, presented the participatory film to over 100 guest and authorities.

According to IOM’s programme manager, the overall reaction from the audience was very posive as well as surprise for the stories most heard in details for the first time through the video.

“This is a great film to raise awareness because it can really touch people as it was made by human trafficking victims themselves and not by actors. There are very few women that would agree to share their stories so gathering all these video testimonials is a crucial step. But this is not enough because there are still people inciting others to go. We need more consistent initiatives from all stakeholders” affirms Jeannie Rafalimanana, from the Diaspora Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Mr. Hoby Nilaina, Director of Support to Malagasy Expatriates The Ministry of Social Affairs would like to gather different material, including other videos, flyers and posters in Malagasy explaining the national law against TiP, and share them in the regions were the prevalence of human trafficking is particularly important.

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Flowers of Hope has been published on different social media platforms and specialized blogs and has been widely shared in the country engaging many followers that made all sort of comments about the film and how surprise many were about such a sad reality that affects many people in Madagascar and around the world.

Madagascar Media Products: Photos of the Process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iom-migration/albums/72157699231964985 Participatory Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292267307 Behind the Scenes Video: https://vimeo.com/album/5446226/video/292271373 Press Briefing Note: http://www.iom.int/news/iom-global-migration-film-festival-empowers-women-victims-human-trafficking-madagascar

Country N.6: Afghanistan - PV to strenghten social cohesion between migrants, IDPs and hosting community This 6th and last participatory video of the Global Migration Film Festival 2018 was certainly the most challenging due to the context in which it was undertaken. As explined by IOM Country Mission on the Press Briefing Note dated August 14 2018, “Many Afghans have experienced migration, both forced and voluntary, in the past four decades of conflict. In 2017 alone, 460.000 undocumented Afghans returned or were deported from Iran, 100.000 from Pakistan and 7,000 from various European countries. In 2018, due to various push and pull factors including a deteriorating economic situation in Iran, tightening border controls in Turkey and an ongoing drought in Afghanistan, there have already been more than 500.000 undocumented returns between January – July 2018. “Afghanistan is currently facing the worst drought in decades, threatening to destroy the livelihoods of 1.4 million Afghans throughout Afghanistan. In a country where large parts of the population rely on agriculture as the sole source of income, the current situation puts an additional burden on breadwinners already struggling to feed their families”, says Laurence Hart, Chief of Mission and Special Envoy to IOM Afghanistan. “Due to chronic under development in rural areas, many working age Afghans seek economic opportunities in neighboring Iran.” However, with an increasingly fragile Iranian economy, Afghans are returning home in large numbers. Without remittance payments from abroad, and no jobs at home, many families have no recourse but to migrate to urban centers like Herat. More than 52,000 individuals have already moved to Herat since the beginning of the drought and live in camp like situations in 179 sites throughout the city. “This PV project is an opportunity to generate a video dialogue between various groups all affected by migration in different

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ways, whether they are IDP’s, returnees or part of the host community”, affirmed IOM Afghanistan’s Public Information Officer Eva Schwoerer.

With the full support of IOM office in Heart and IOM Public Information Officer that travelled with the PV team, we worked with a group of 13 Afghanis, male and female, from different backgrounds, ethnicities and gender that spent one week together exchanging experiences, directing and producing their own film featuring stories of migration. The participants for the first time experimented filming with a professional camera, learned basics of frame images, told their stories holding a microphone like a reporter and made collective editorial decisions through consensus. There were five women participating in the group and the process helped develop their confidence not only to speak but for the first time to film and interview their male colleagues. The participants practiced storytelling amongst themselves to inspire empathy and find common life lessons emerging from the different narratives. Through a cycle of filming and watching themselves as well as group discussions they create bondage by listening to other realities and perspectives based on real life stories.

The group also had the opportunity to navigate in different worlds. The first story was filmed in an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camp on the outskirts of Herat where tents spread along the dry terrain is home to more than 50,000 Afghanis that left their home town due to drought and conflict. “Today we went to a camp and I could see with my own eyes the hard situation they are living in. It is an open area, windy and dusty and there are no trees,” tells Said Mahdi, an agronomist from Herat participating in the activity. Following the camp filming tour, the team went to finalize their footage at the gardens of the Manzar-e Jahad museum that offers a panoramic view of the city. The participants also had the opportunity to do a complete tour. For many of them, it was the first time to experience part of the history of the country through the lenses of a specialized museum.

On the final day, the facilitators lead a participatory video editing session following a local community screening. Neighbors, family members, friends and local authorities attended the event. “The film shows our hope for peace,” says a village elder. At the end of the year, during the 3rd edition of the Global Migration Film Festival, an international version will be screened around the world.

“It was an intense and rich experience to have such a diverse group working together in a complex reality. It was fascinating to observe how the dynamics changed as we progressed. In the end they had formed a strong 24

team spirit” affirmed Amanda Nero. “Despite the cultural nuances it was inspiring to observe the high level of dialogue between IDPs, returnees and host community. Participatory filmmaking can be a powerful tool for social transformation” said Fernanda Baumhardt.

A few months later, IOM Afghanistan together with other UN agencies organized a side event during the conference titled “People on the Move”, which amongst other activities, showed the participatory video made by the Afghans.

Some of the challenges faced: -

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Working with such a participatory methodology – group work, cameras, microphone - and filming at IDP camps in a context where citizen participation is limited and security threats are frequent.

Working with such a methodology in such a cultural context where women and men are usually separated, women have limited voice and rarely operate filming cameras.

Having very different profiles in one same group, host community teachers that were well dressed, side by side with IDPs that were struggling to make a living, some women with a burka and other with a Hijab.

Difficult to build trust - an important a foundation of a good PV process- with such a cultural and overall context. The IDPs participants were from Pashtoon ethnical group (same ethnical group of the Taliban) while participants from the host community were from Hazaras ethnical group - thousands of Hazaras were killed by the Taliban. There was definitely that tension in the room, especially in the beginning as the group was not integrated and many were suspicious.

An intense program for such a diverse group that included teachers and IDPs who had other responsibilities. The time of the activity did not take in consideration the fact that the IDPs had to commute from a far away camp. They were brought by a car hired from a friend and had to cross the Hazaras neighborhood to arrive at the training facilities in the middle of the suburb. We did not take into consideration that aspect as well – training should have taken place on a neutral neighborhood so IDPs would feel more comfortable and not afraid of potential repression.

A financial incentive to the participants was key, especially for the IDPs, clearly the most vulnerable.

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Afghanistan Media Products: Photos of the Process: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iom-migration/albums/72157673901262938 Participatory Video: https://vimeo.com/292189262 Behind the Scenes Video: https://vimeo.com/284610924 Press Briefing Note: https://afghanistan.iom.int/press-releases/global-migration-film-festival-project-helps-afghans-record-their-migration-stories

Feedback from the participanting communities To gather feedback from the participants about the Participatory Video Project and its activities, in the end of each PV process, the PV team did an evaluation using following methods: 1. Quantitative – an anonimous survey distributed to all the participants with closed and open-ended questions; 2. Qualitative – video interviews with a small sample of participants with three open questions.

The evaluation results were compiled on an excel sheet presented as annex. Here a selection of the results:

“In Afghanistan, women often don’t have a voice and we are here also to represent these voices”.

(An women participant from Afghanistan) What did the participants mostly enjoyed about the process? Jordan participants’ answers:

Participation and creativity Participation and meeting new people Giving our opinion before anything and given the freedom of choice Working as a team without differences To work as a team and make progress How to use the camera It gave myself confidence and a feel of teamwork. I felt happy everyday.

The team soul/spirit Meeting new people and learning how to film 26

Quotes extracted from the transcribed video interviews: “I changed my opinion about other countries and culture. It was great to meet people from other countries and cultures. I feel youth are very similar no matter where they come from.” (Youth participants, Jordan) “I feel free to decide what to say and what to show”, “I feel proud of being who I am”, “I felt stronger, prouder and empowered” and “I have discovered that I love to speak and communicate”. (Youth participants, Jordan) “During the screening, I liked watching both videos: the one made by the Eñepas and the other made by the Waraos. I also enjoyed that they were made by us.”

(From an Eñepas indigenous migrant participant in Boa Vista, Brazil) “After the process I was proud because I could not imagine we could produce a film like this, especially after all we’ve been through. I have learned many lessons because we shared a lot of things amongst ourselves”.

(Lilas, participant and victim of human-trafficking, Madagascar) “In my 31 years of life, this is the first time I am holding a video camera in my hands,” (Masoma, a returnee from Iran in Afghanistan)

We asked the participants to grade the PV activity between 1-10 Result /mean per PV activity location: Jordan PV process: 9.5 South Sudan PV process: 8.5 Geneva PV process: 9 Venezuela PV process: 8.70 Madagascar PV process: 9.2 Afghanistan PV process: 9.2 Overall/ mean grade: 9.13

Certificate given to every participating community member

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Some learnings, recommendations and reflection: 1.

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PV is a good method and tool that can be used for different objectives, including: To Build migrant’s communities capacities to collectively create and positively communicate; To foster dialogue and social cohesion between communities As a bottom-up communication process that can generate genuine and high quality media products To bring to the Festival new voices, perspectives and narratives from migrants whom are not professional filmmakers; To promote and empower the direct participation of community filmmakers in the Festival, taking the Festival to the frontlines of migration To be used as an activity for psychosocial support To raise awareness of multiple thematics The potential role of this GMFF PV/CwC initiative to empower and buid communities’s capacities communications and filmmaking, using these tools for social change - self-reflection, self-recognition, ownership, participation, strenghtening their own resilience, social cohesion, integration. From a project to a programme?

The selection of participating IOM missions/ contexts /community profile should be based on a clear criteria that include as its base, support on-going programming and never be implemented only as a standing alone communication activity, even if related to the Festival.

The importance of giving classes and planting seeds for future humanitarian communicators at the Federal University in Boa Vista. This type of initiative should be considered in other activities from MCD, to balance the taking away media material with transfering local knowledge to the future comms professionals.

The potential role of the GMFF PV/ CwC initiative to train communication’s students on humanitarian and migration principles, migration challenges, human-dignity approach, communications role (etc) to seed influencers and multipliers (multiplicadores) of a different perspective and more positive approach.

More time is needed for a good PV activity: more planning time, more time observing the field before starting any activity, more time for filming and bringing more voices and themes into the discussion, more time for participatory editing, more time for organizing multiple and robust film screenings.

Too many activities packed in a short schedule – PV, photo training, PV evaluation, PBN, photo assignments. This may compromisse not only the quality of the materials and process but as well as the well-being of the team involved. Because of the limited time to develop so many activities, the drafting of the PV project report was affected and it had to be completed outside the official duration of the project, which did affect it’s quality.

The importance of managing expectations and adapting the program considering the different participant’s profile such as the indigenous peoples of Venezuela that had a different pace and daily routine. The situation of struggle for survival should also be better considered when planning.

The potential threat that can be perceived by inexperienced members of MCD in CwC, with the bottom-up communication approach that prioritises the voice of the community versus visibility. For future CwC and particpatory projects that genuinely hand in the editorial control to communities, members of MCD must be trained and based on such understanding, let go of their control and trust the approach.

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9. How do we find balance, a common ground between rasing migrant’s challenging reality through their voices and perspectives being loyal to the field reality and in the same time not being afraid to loose humanitarian space with the government. How do we balance a political approach with humanitarian approach?

10. On the other hand, by bringing participatory video into a Film Festival that was designed as a platform for filmmkers work only, this project is a great example of innovation and intersection between a traditional top-down communication and a CwC bottom-up community driven approach.

11. But there is still a long way to go. The participatory videos produced by the communities did not have a similar weight in the festival comparing to the films made by the filmmakers. They were much less promoted in the Festival website, social media platforms and therefore did not have an high number of screenings around the world and visibility. It was a good initiative but that it clearly remained in the back seat.

12. The potential role of the GMFF PV/ CwC initiative to generate content for advocacy at the local, national and regional levels (use example of Brasil) and with different audiences: UN agencies, Government authorities, Civil Society and NGOs. 13. The feeling of empowerment and pride of the participants at the end of the process when they watch and present the final version of the film. In taking ownership of the whole process of production of the video, where they are not only the ones taking care of the technical aspects of it, but also the ones making the decisions through group consensus on the “how� part of the process. In summary, it proves to them that they can rise above their challenges and transform their own narratives.

14. Giving a certificate of participation is very important and highly appreciated by the participants.

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