Trinidad & Tobago
This short documentary tells the story of an environment protected area in Trinidad and Tobago - The Aripo Savannas - and had a dual focus: On one side, to capture the voices of people that have been living in the Savannas surroundings for many years and are now highly pressured to move out. On the other, the decision to relocate most of these communities, made after 16 months of an intense participatory process based on a new management plan for the protected area.
The doc main target audience was composed of stakeholders, local communities and the government agencies involved in the participatory process that included relocation and the management of the area. The goal was to use video as a tool to facilitate dialogue, to show the different perspectives involved and to create room for further reflection.
The challenges to produce this film in “a guerilla filmmaking style” were easily overwritten by the joy of seeing the communities’ voices of hopes magnified and dignified by the big screen and loudly heard by the other actors.
The doc main target audience was composed of stakeholders, local communities and the government agencies involved in the participatory process that included relocation and the management of the area. The goal was to use video as a tool to facilitate dialogue, to show the different perspectives involved and to create room for further reflection.
The challenges to produce this film in “a guerilla filmmaking style” were easily overwritten by the joy of seeing the communities’ voices of hopes magnified and dignified by the big screen and loudly heard by the other actors.
Credits
Editing: Justin Benn
Production, Directing, Camera and Interviews: Fernanda Baumhardt
Project Organization - Canari
LaTrinidad and Tobago, May 2008
