Filmmaking workshop with the Munda community
The Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival held a five-day CDST filmmaking workshop with the Munda community in Koyra, Khulna. The workshop started on Sunday, 6 November. This mobile filmmaking workshop solely focused on climate change and its aftermath in Munda’s life. A total of eight participants from the Munda community joined the workshop.
Global warming is real and rapid climate change is its effect. Participants tried their best to cover different problem areas and how those create a long-term impact in the Munda community. In these diverse topics they talked about the salinity in the water, health and safety, culture and language, job crisis that leads to displacement. Through their stories, they displayed the mundane life of a Munda woman, her concern for not providing enough nutrition to her family. River erosion is taking away their ancestral land and religion as well.
The intensive mobile filmmaking workshop, the first of its kind in Koyra, provided the opportunity for participants from the Munda community to “understand and appreciate the process of telling their stories with a smartphone.” Besides that, through this workshop, they gathered the basic knowledge of filmmaking, which will help them find their voice on a broader scale. At the closing event, each participant has showcased their films in front of the audience. The films vividly displayed their everyday lives- struggles for survival fighting against nature.
The closing ceremony of the ‘CDST Filmmaking Workshop with Munda Community, Koyra 2021’ was held on Thursday, 11 November. ULAB’s MSJ Department Head Dr Jude William Genilo and project researcher Angelos Theocharis from Durham University thanked the participants.
The event started with a brief introduction to the research project and was followed by screening participants’ projects. Local school teachers, social workers, journalists and renowned public figures also graced the event.
The “Community Digital Storytelling and Delta Futures in India, Bangladesh and Vietnam” project is funded by the UKRI GCRF Living Deltas Hub and the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) at Durham University. The workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF), the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), and the Initiative for Coastal Development (ICD). From DIMFF, advisor Dr Abdul Kabil Khan and executive advisor Syeda Sadia Mehjabin were the facilitators and DIMFF’s advisor Mohammad Shazzad Hossain was the coordinator of the workshop. Asikuzzaman Asik acted as the coordinator. from ICD.