Cowra, NSW, Dec 2011
CHALLENGE:
Tallstoreez’ Change Media and Bell Shakespeare Company have collaborated with a selection of artists from recent refugee / asylum seeker backgrounds, and explored the creation of a cutting edge inter-artwork that speaks to the global issues of forced migration.
Located at the Corridor Project near Cowra, this laboratory trained all participants in digital media while developing creative responses to the current refugee debate through Shakespeare and Shakespearean equivalents from other cultures. We explored what unites and divides us in a rapidly changing world. Forced migration means millions of people are displaced to somewhere else. This global phenomenon affects us all. How do we live and share these stories? What is our vision for the future?
It is said Shakespeare speaks to the core of the human condition, but what role does ‘Shakespearience’ play for young refugees far from home, war and their own influential storytellers and cultural heritage? This 3-year project provides a framework for them to create their own stories, engaging with a Shakespearean filter.
Our key aim for this collaboration was to develop a high quality multi-art project in collaboration with Bell and various artists and mentors, most of whom have been refugees, to creatively re-frame the public discussion about refugee issues. It is in our interests that everyone collaborating in the Cowra lab has this as their core aim, and we will do everything possible to establish an inspiring, creative container to explore these ideas.
We are aiming for a deliberate collision of CACD and the ‘high arts’ sectors, facilitated through digital media, CACD and theater professionals, who bring a diverse range of skills and experiences. This exploration included ‘classical’ training [both digital media and theater] and ‘performing emergencies’ to develop a framework for representations of ‘Other’ and cultural difference. We want to create equitable relationships for a non-exploitative, safe yet high-risk creative collaboration. Our process playfully acknowledges our diversity of experiences [whiteness, racism, colonialism, classics vs new art etc] while pushing for fun, excellence and high quality outcomes. Out of the 14 concepts developed, we made 9 films during the 4.5 day laboratory, which will be available for online viewing soon.
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PARTNERS: Australia Council for the Arts Creative Community Partnership Initiative; Bell Shakespeare Company; STARTTS NSW; members of the Melbourne Asylum Seeker Resource Centre theater group; Tallstoreez Productionz, the Corridor Project Cowra
The Perfect Refugee, Minds Eye laboratory
Click on the image above or the link to watch - Coming soon: The Perfect Refugee – Cowra laboratory.
If your device can’t play the clip, click here to watch it on Vimeo soon.
Our team will also produce new peer-produced training videos, that form part of our A Penny For Your Thoughts initiative with OurCommunity.
Click on the link to watch our current training clips here.
OUTCOMES:
During the first stage of the project, we created a series of viral mock ads, short dramas, comedies and mini-documentaries, by exploring fun/ innovative/ disruptive ways to engage the public in the debate. The short films form part of a performance work that we are developing with all participants and partners, with the aim to develop a major cross-arts performance work by 2013-14 for national presentation.
For the first 4.5-day creative laboratory at the beautiful Corridor Project art space in Cowra, NSW, December 5-10, we were inviting refugee artists and their supporters from different groups in VIC, SA and NSW, to work with Tallstoreez creative team [theatre, culture jamming, digital media and film making] and Bell Shakespeare team, including 4 Bell players Belinda Hoare, Ivan Donato, Paul Reichstein, Francesca Savige, theater designer Christian Harimanow and artist in residence James Evans.
The selected artists from refugee background for this first laboratory in Cowra were:
Ubah Badi
Alfarid ‘Reyaz’ Musaddique Hussain
Yomal Krishan Rajasinghe
Elvan Alp
Mirhat Turan
Fadia Al Faris
Jiva Parthipan
Samuel Bullen Alier
This laboratory will be mentored by Change Media’s creative director Jennifer Lyons-Reid, producer Carl Kuddell, Bell artist in residene James Evans, Melbourne-based community theater director Catherine Simmons and Change Media camera operator Johanis Lyons-Reid.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS: Stay tuned for updates!
IMPACT & FEEDBACK:
Adelaide ARA, SA, June 4-5 2011
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CHALLENGE: Change Media worked with 18 new arrivals and young refugees from Buthan and several African countries as well as Australian Refugee Association staff over 2 days, to continue training in film narratives, interview techniques and digital media skills as part of our 3-year multi-arts project with Bell Shakespeare Company.
PARTNERS: The Australia Council for the Arts Creative Communities Partnership Initiative; Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities; Australian Refugee Association; Buthanese Community Association SA Inc, Bell Shakespeare Company; Victorian College for the Arts Centre for Cultural Partnerships; Tallstoreez Productionz.
Training videos: coming in August 2011
Until the new videos are ready, click on the image above or the link to watch last years amazing outcome – Culture Shock !
OUTCOMES: Stay tuned for updates.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS: Stay tuned for updates.
IMPACT & FEEDBACK: Stay tuned for updates.
North Adelaide Carclew, SA, May 20-23 2011
CHALLENGE: Change Media worked with acclaimed director, actor, filmmaker and social animateur, Shahin Shafaei, and 18 young migrants, to create new work as part of a long term project. The forum theater workshop ran over 4 days, and mixed theater and acting techniques with digital media skills, to prepare for a 3-year multi-arts project with Bell Shakespeare and Tallstoreez.
PARTNERS: The Australia Council for the Arts Creative Communities Partnership Initiative; Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities; Australian Refugee Association; Bell Shakespeare Company; Victorian College for the Arts Centre for Cultural Partnerships; Tallstoreez Productionz
Training videos: coming in June 2011
Until the new videos are ready, click on the image above or the link to watch last years amazing outcome – Culture Shock !
OUTCOMES:
This Change Media project aims to build the creative foundations for an exciting and innovative collaboration with young migrants and Bell Shakespeare in South Australia. The training covered forum theater, image creation and screen narratives, storytelling, interview and reenactment techniques and documentary shooting. The team also recorded some of the behind-the-scenes documentations.
We were excited to work with Shahin Shafaei [Through the Wires; From Bagdad to the Burbs] to kick start our newest creative challenge for the community arts and cultural development sector – to create high profile work that bring mainstream art and marginalized communities together to explore the ruptures of our society and our mythologies around refugees, racism and integration through a classical lens: Shakespeare In Times Of Crisis – The Perfect Refugee…
SCREENINGS & AWARDS: Stay tuned for updates.
IMPACT & FEEDBACK: Stay tuned for updates.
Adelaide ARA, SA, May 14-15 2011
CHALLENGE: Change Media worked with 18 new arrivals and young refugees as well as Australian Refugee Association staff over 2 days, to build on last years training in film narratives, interview techniques and digital media skills and prepare for a 3-year multi-arts project with Bell Shakespeare.
PARTNERS: The Australia Council for the Arts Creative Communities Partnership Initiative; Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities; Australian Refugee Association; Buthanese Community Association SA Inc, Bell Shakespeare Company; Victorian College for the Arts Centre for Cultural Partnerships; Tallstoreez Productionz
Film: coming in June 2011
Until the new films are ready, click on the image above or the link to watch last years amazing outcome – Culture Shock !
OUTCOMES:
This project aims to built on the success of the first workshop with ARA participants in 2010. The training covered screen narratives,interview techniques and how to upload your footage to computer.
The youth team also worked on the overall creative concept for the work with us and Bell Shakespeare, in preparation to the upcoming workshop with Shahin Shafaei.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS: Stay tuned for updates.
IMPACT & FEEDBACK: Stay tuned for updates.
May 2011: Australia Council grants Tallstoreez’ Change Media project triennial Creative Communities Partnerships Initiative funding
Change Media has been successful in Stage 2 of our CCPI funding proposal to the Australia Council for the Arts, to produce new and exciting works as part of our proposed Creative Communities Partnerships Initiative for three years, 2011-2014.
The Australia Council supports us to deliver new programs for marginalized and young people and their communities across Australia over the coming years, alongside our other partners such as the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – Office for the Arts’ Indigenous Cultural Support Grant, Bell Shakespeare Company, the Australian Refugee Association; the Ngarrindjeri Land & Progress Association, OurCommunity and all our other partners.
Thanks to all our supporters for all your fantastic work over the last years – we are looking forward to establishing Change Media as a leading initiative for disruptive innovation in the CACD sector nationally and to continue the incredible success we had over the last 7 years in South Australia.
Australian Refugee Association, March 2010
CHALLENGE: Change Media worked with 15 new arrivals and young refugees as well as ARA / Pt. Adelaide Council staff over 4 days, to train them in film narratives, interview techniques and digital media skills. They created a peer-produced, fun documentary DVD about their lives and the challenges of coming to Australia: Culture Shock! Order your copy in our online store here.
PARTNERS: Australia Council for the Arts Creative Community Partnership Initiative; Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities; City of Port Adelaide Enfield; Australian Refugee Association; Tallstoreez Productionz; Apple Australia
Film: Culture Shock
If your device can’t play this clip, click here to watch it on Vimeo.
OUTCOMES: The training covered an introduction to screen narratives, file management and interview & reenactment techniques, documentary shooting and Final Cut editing skills. After an involved debate about the many issues faced by young refugees, the team (comprising of 15 young people from Kongo, Sudan, Bhutan, Belarus, Tanzania and Burundi) decided to use a mix of fun and serious examples of situations they were faced with as new arrivals. The team also created the original soundtrack in Garageband and recorded most of the behind-the-scenes documentations.
See also participant interviews: Interview – AJ, Interview – Bikram, Interview – Bunam, Interview – Chris, Interview – Damber, Interview – Graick, Interview – Devi Interview – Kangimo, Interview – Peter, Interview – Maxim, Interview – Priyanka.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS: Please watch this space for updates. The final film screened at ARA in April 2010 to huge applause. Several local councils and NGO’s have acquired copies of the DVD for their work with young refugees. Please order a copy of Culture Shock here. The project was one of the main reasons why Change Media was selected as winner of the Kookaburra Awards 2010 for Best Community Project.
IMPACT & FEEDBACK: The team managed to create engaging stories that raise awareness about issues faced by young refugees living in the Port Adelaide Enfield district and wider Adelaide area. The participants hadn’t worked as a team were able to produce one film together; everybody conducted several shoots, interviews and took part in the edit and music production. By the end of Day 4 the team finished a rough cut of a funny and engaging documentary about appropriate / inappropriate behaviors and other challenges. The whole team agreed on the changes they wanted for the fine cut, for the Change Media team to clean up the edit, add title cards and insert the participants self-made music. We have already been approached by ARA to conduct another project soon, as the participants are keen to build on their new skills. Read the rest of this page and add your comments »
Regional Arts Australia conference: Art at the Heart, Sept 2008
CHALLENGE: During the RAA’s (Regional Arts Australia) most recent bi-annual conference in Alice Springs, the Hero Project was invited to present its community empowerment work in a 1 hour conference presentation. We also were selected to run a 2-hour edit-in-camera workshop, introducing regional art workers and artists to our unique model.
PARTNERS: Regional Arts Australia; the Australia Council for the Arts; Arts SA ; CAAMA; Tallstoreez Productionz; Apple Australia; DECS
Film: Art at the Heart edit-in-camera films
OUTCOMES: We had a record number of participants: over 100 people attended our presentation and 40 people participated in the hands-on workshop on the second day. The 4 teams producing 4 great films. Feedback from the participants and audience was that it was one of the best presentations at RAA that year…
Above you find links to the films made during the Saturday 2-hour workshop at ‘Art at the Heart’ at CAAMA.
(We found the ‘lost film’, yah) and couldn’t resist making some tiny-weeny changes to support your edit-in-camera film ideas (as we understood them), we hope you like our input… Again big thanks to CAAMA for supporting the workshop and offering their great space.
Read the rest of this page and add your comments »
DECS Multicultural Unit Adelaide, July 2007
CHALLENGE: The Hero Project team worked with 20 students and several teachers to produce a multi-cultural awareness video for the Department of Education Multicultural Unit.
PARTNERS: Department of Education and Children Services SA; Apple Australia; Tallstoreez Productionz
Film: Mission Possible
OUTCOMES: The Hero Project worked with 20 students from Gilles St Primary School, Adelaide, to record positive example and activities around multi-cultural educational practice.
The participating teachers from several Adelaide schools received professional development training to use digital media in the classroom. The team included Helen Grant [Gilles St PS], Shona Russo [LeFevrre HS] and Andy Mewett [Glenunga HS].
SCREENINGS & AWARDS
The film screened as part of the Come Out 2007 Youth Film Fest at the Mercury Cinema in Adelaide.
IMPACT & FEEDBACK: DECS SA used the film to promote their multicultural unit across Government schools in South Australia. The film was officially launched by Minister for Education Hon jane Lomax-Smith at the Glenunga International High School alongside a new multicultural manual.
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Latin, SA June 2004
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CHALLENGE:
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PARTNERS:
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Film: Latin
OUTCOMES:
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SCREENINGS & AWARDS:
some kind of latin award
IMPACT & FEEDBACK:
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