people & the planet videos
People & the Planet Videos
Posted: 12 Aug 2000
People & the Planet Videos - an offshoot of People & the Planet magazine - have found a worldwide audience.
Launched in 1995, to meet the need for up-to-date low-cost video information on successful sustainable development initiatives, the first four productions have now been seen in over 50 countries.
The video project is a collaborative effort between Planet 21, publishers of People & the Planet magazine, the British Documentary producer, North South Productions, and the Television Trust for the Environment (TVE), which handles promotion and distribution. The International Institute of Environment and Development provides research backing.
Since TVE began taking orders in February 1996, over 200 sets of the first three videos on themes relating to women's development have been distributed to non-governmental organizations in 58 countries.
These themes have included reproductive health, the education of girls and new ways in which women are communicating.
A fourth film, entitled Investing in People, looks at ways in which local communities are working to improve their environment, and at the importance of supporting such efforts.
Each new video is linked to special issues of People & the Planet and each is produced in collaboration with South-based production companies.
Produced in English, French and Spanish, these videos are also produced in 'kit' form.
Investing in People tells the story of two exciting development projects in the Philippines and Indonesia which demonstrate the importance of community participation in successful development efforts.
The first follows one village's success in western Java in building a road as part of the regional Village Infrastructure Project. This encourages villagers to decide exactly what they need and gives them control over funds and local labour.
The second follows the Central Visayas Regional Project in the Philippines where local fisherfolk have been granted rights over areas of mangrove they replant themselves. The film shows how this self-sustaining project has improved fish stocks and provided much needed wood for building and fuel.
Victory for Women summarizes the positive messages from the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development and looks at these from the perspective of families in Egypt and Colombia.
The film shows how Egypt has made headway in moving away from top-down 'population control' programmes to more sensitive reproductive health approaches. It also reports on how IPPF's affiliate in Colombia, Profamilia, has embraced both men and young people in its 'people-centred' approach to family planning and linked this with other legal and health services which meet the needs of both sexes.
Learning for Life looks at successful examples of extending education to women and girls - and the impact this is having on their lives - with a special focus on Senegal and Bangladesh.
In Senegal, where three women out of four over the age of 15 are illiterate, the film reports on the work of one NGO called TOSTAN, which has succeeded in making learning both fun and relevant for village women, improving their skills and increasing their confidence.
In Bangladesh, producer Rossana Horsley worked with a local film company, Audio-Visual Communications, to highlight the work of BRAC in educating children - especially girls - who have never attended state schooling. With 29,000 schools, all of them local and often open for only a few hours a day, this project provides a lifeline to many parents who would otherwise keep their daughters at home.
Calling the Shots builds on the magazine issue Women: A Power for Change. Made by North South Productions in partnership with Marcia Forbes of Phase Three Productions in Jamaica and Pinty Rao of RKO Films in Bombay, it tells the stories of two successful women's projects which use popular communication methods to highlight their concerns.
In Jamaica, the Sistren Theatre Collective has used street theatre and theatre workshops to record the struggles and achievements of Caribbean women and to provide popular education on subjects such as domestic violence and teenage sexuality.
In Ahmedabad India, the Self-Employed Women's Association, a collective supporting poor working women, has used video to make training films and news programmes in their effort to campaign for better conditions.
To order films contact:
TVE, Prince Albert Road, London NW1 4RZ, UK.
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
|
