Young TV producers network in Asia on HIV/AIDS

Eleven young documentary filmmakers – eight women and three men - from eight countries in Asia met for a primary screening of their films on Voluntary Confidential Counselling and Testing (VCCT) for HIV/AIDS in New Delhi last week. UNESCO and the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) have been collaborating on a project to build a network of young TV producers working on HIV/AIDS in Asia. The rationale is that regional endeavours of this sort will enable all countries in the region to be involved in a wider and more effective regional work for quality TV programming on HIV/AIDS. This screening was the culmination of a five-month-long process that began with a preliminary training workshop held in Thailand in April this year. Eleven young TV producers from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, working with national TV organisations, were chosen for training. The workshop helped participants gain knowledge and skills in producing films on HIV/AIDS. After the workshop, they were requested to produce a short documentary on HIV/AIDS. The filmmakers’ organisations committed themselves to giving the participants full support for the production of the programme and to covering the costs for the production of the programme. They will also air the programmes produced in the framework of the project, in particular on World AIDS Day (December 1). A follow-up training workshop was held in Delhi from August 22-26, at which the films were reviewed and analysed. However, as Shankar Chowdhury, UNESCO HIV/AIDS expert, said, “We must not look at the production of the films alone. We must look at the journey of the producer”. Due to time limits only seven of the 11 five-minute films — each one of them examining the HIV/AIDS situation in their respective countries — were screened for the public, followed by a discussion between the producers and the audience. All 11 films will be shortly available either on a DVD compilation or as separate items. The executive producer of the project was Scott Rawdin, himself an independent film-maker specialised in HIV/AIDS issues. Source:UNESCO

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