Return to Video

WITNESS in Rio: Training Activists to Use Video to Fight Forced Evictions

  • 0:00 - 0:05
    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    July 22-29, 2011
  • 0:06 - 0:08
    WITNESS and local partner groups CMP-RJ, MNLM-RJ, UMP-RJ, and ComCat organize an 8-day video advocacy
  • 0:08 - 0:11
    training for 16 activists campaigning against the forced evictions of poor communities in Rio
  • 0:11 - 0:15
    in the lead up to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
  • 0:15 - 0:17
    Priscila Néri
    Program Manager, WITNESS
  • 0:17 - 0:21
    So today is day 5 of our 8-day training here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • 0:21 - 0:28
    We are training 16 activists in how to use video to resist, denounce, and mobilize against the forced evictions
  • 0:28 - 0:30
    that are happening here in the city.
  • 0:30 - 0:32
    Just behind me is Canal do Anil.
  • 0:32 - 0:38
    It's one of the communities that has most strongly resisted this injustice and today's really the day when the training
  • 0:38 - 0:43
    comes together. All the participants go out with their cameras and put into practice what we've been learning
  • 0:43 - 0:45
    and reviewing all week together.
  • 0:45 - 0:49
    Interviews, what kinds of questions to ask, how to secure informed consent,
  • 0:49 - 0:55
    how to talk to their interviewees about safety risks, and how to think about that when picking up the camera.
  • 0:55 - 0:58
    What kind of shots they can use to tell their story visually
  • 0:58 - 1:02
    And then, leaving here, we're going to edit these videos that they've been shooting all day
  • 1:02 - 1:08
    and it's going to be their very first experience as documentary filmmakers using video for change.
  • 1:21 - 1:22
    Antonieta
    Activist, Training Participant
  • 1:22 - 1:27
    I'm from Largo do Campinho, a community which was removed.
  • 1:27 - 1:35
    And the experience of being removed was very sad because we were forced to leave our homes
  • 1:35 - 1:43
    and move to a place where we didn't want to be, a place that is not as good as where we lived.
  • 1:43 - 1:49
    Just because they wanted to build a road.
  • 1:49 - 1:56
    The project wasn't discussed with the community, we had no input into the process.
  • 1:56 - 1:59
    We felt worthless.
  • 1:59 - 2:06
    While video will help us document the before and after [of an evicted community],
  • 2:06 - 2:13
    it will also ensure that what my community and I experienced during the eviction
  • 2:13 - 2:19
    can be shared through videos with other communities that are at risk of eviction
  • 2:19 - 2:22
    to show them just how brutal the municipal government is...
  • 2:22 - 2:25
    That they don't do what they say they'll do.
  • 2:25 - 2:29
    So through videos, we're going to prevent, prepare and make these communities aware.
  • 2:29 - 2:31
    I think video is so important.
  • 2:31 - 2:34
    Renato
    Activist, Training Participant
  • 2:34 - 2:38
    Many communities have already been removed, so they think they'll just be one more [victim].
  • 2:38 - 2:43
    But as some of the residents say "Here it's going to be different."
  • 2:43 - 2:51
    These residents try to fight, try to show others through this partnership with WITNESS.
  • 2:51 - 2:58
    That it's possible to fight. We can't give up without a fight.
  • 2:58 - 3:00
    Yvette Alberdingk-Thiim
    Executive Director, WITNESS
  • 3:00 - 3:05
    For me, the notion that we've now, hopefully, in this very strategic way equipped many of these activists
  • 3:05 - 3:13
    who represent larger communities with the ability to use video to bring these stories home
  • 3:13 - 3:19
    and to bring them to the audiences that need to see them, to actually change whats happening here
  • 3:19 - 3:26
    is an incredibly powerful tool. It's, I guess, the next best thing to being here and hearing their stories first-hand.
  • 3:26 - 3:32
    A Partnership between WITNESS and:
  • 3:34 - 3:37
    Produced by Nomadique - www.nomadique.com
  • 3:37 - 3:41
    & WITNESS - www.witness.org
  • 3:42 - 3:47
    A very special thanks to the Canal do Anil community
  • 3:47 -
    Get involved:
    blog.witness.org
Title:
WITNESS in Rio: Training Activists to Use Video to Fight Forced Evictions
Description:

From July 22-29 2011, WITNESS and Brazilian networks CMP-RJ, MNLM-RJ, and UMP-RJ organized an 8-day video advocacy training in Rio de Janeiro for 16 local activists.

The training focused on the strategic use of video in advocacy to stop the forced evictions happening in Rio as a result of the construction projects underway for the sporting mega-events Brazil will host in coming years (most notably the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics).

The local activists represented directly affected communities as well as activist groups and social movements that are working to stop illegal evictions and demand accountability for the abuses from local authorities.

Conducted in partnership with NGO Catalytic Communities, the training in Rio is part of a broader national partnership in Brazil with the FNRU network (National Forum on Urban Reform) and an international partnership with the Habitat International Coalition (HIC) network and its Latin America office.

****
For more on the training, see this blog post: http://blog.witness.org/2011/08/forced-evictions-training-in-rio-de-janeiro
For more videos on forced evictions in Rio, watch the Voices of the Mission series: http://www.youtube.com/user/PriscilaWITNESS#grid/user/B359E43200FA21B8
To follow and support the campaign, visit http://www.witness.org/campaigns/forced-evictions
more » « less
Video Language:
English
Duration:
03:55

English subtitles

Revisions

Our website uses cookies for analysis purposes.