OWM Presents: Fresh Perspectives + Q&A

Thu, 18 March 2021 | 6.00pm (GMT)

Join us for a programme of short docs showcasing untold stories from around the world, curated from the One World Media Fellowship programme.

In partnership with Bertha Dochouse, we are hosting an online screening of select documentary shorts directed by talented emerging filmmakers.

Each unique and untold story explores what it means to take your own path in a changing world. Meet a Palestinian teenager who finds solace in cyberspace; the only black and LGBTQIA+ member of Brazil’s congress fighting for the representation of Rio’s favelas; the Siberian factory workers coming to terms with the end of the Space Race; and a Mexican family who preserves the tradition of harvesting purple ink from sea snails in the face of a changing climate.

Tune in from 6pm on Thursday 18th to watch the film programme followed by a live Q&A with the filmmakers at 7.15pm GMT.

The films and the recorded Q&A will be available to watch until Saturday 20th March 23:59 GMT. Available worldwide.

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THE FILMS

Wifi Rider

Directed by Roxy Rezvany

A disillusioned Palestinian teenager escapes the isolation of his daily life by creating a new persona that becomes an online sensation: The Wifi Rider.

Life in Jerusalem is lonely for queer Palestinian teenager Shukri. That is until he discovers an online world of Western pop-stars preaching self-love and acceptance. In this digital paradise, his loneliness evaporates. But this online world isn’t real. Soon Shukri realises that in order to truly find himself, he must accept the truth about the world he inhabits. In this 16mm documentary film, we follow Shukri from the hillside apartments of Amman to the sandy shores of the Dead Sea. We watch him confront the myths about the West and the East and how they have impacted his life. We discover that as the ‘Wifi Rider’, Shukri is able to create a new identity for himself, and a new generation of Arabs like him, who feel caught between an occupation, discrimination, and the universal growing pains that come with adulthood.

Director: Roxy Rezvany is a British filmmaker of Iranian-Malaysian-Chinese descent. She has been recognised by The Dots as one of their Creative Trailblazers of 2018 and featured twice in Broadcast Magazine as an up and coming director. After a career in television which included the twice Emmy-nominated programme, Gaycation, her directorial debut Little Pyongyang, a short film about North Korean refugees, premiered in competition at CPH: Dox Festival, had its UK Premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest, and was the winner of best director at Underwire Festival and best documentary at The Smalls. She is currently working on new projects supported by the Barbican & the BFI.

Duration: 13mins      Film location: Jordan

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David in Brasilia

Directed by Ali Sargent

A day in the life of David Miranda, a young politician who is the only black, LGBT member of Brazil’s national Congress, in the wake of the Vaza Jato scandal which undermined the legitimacy of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency.

David in Brasilia gives the audience a front row seat to one day in the working life of Miranda, right at the height of the Vaza Jato controversy in which documents leaked to Glenn Greenwald questioned the legitimacy of the imprisonment of former President Lula, which had brought Bolsonaro to power. This documentary captures the life of a high profile politician, mixing high stakes drama with the day-to-day reality of fighting in the political trenches for an agenda he is literally willing to die for. We see how David’s life involves being vilified and threatened with death one minute, then being asked for selfies with fans the next; how important matters of state go hand in hand with tawdry playground taunts, both at his son’s school and in the heart of Congress itself. In one day we come to intimately know a man who has decided to take the abuse of what seems like the whole country in order to represent his constituents in Rio’s favelas and do what he can to preserve Brazil’s fragile democracy.

Director: Ali Sargent is a filmmaker and translator from London. Her credits include from researcher through to field producer on films for HBO, Al Jazeera, The Guardian and Business Insider. Her short films as a director have previously screened at the Tate Exchange, ICA, South London Gallery and at festivals. She is currently producing “Purity”, a debut feature documentary by Susy Peña and co-production between the UK and Sweden.

Duration: 26mins      Film location: Brazil

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Tixinda

Directed by Rhys Aaron Lewis & Valeria Luongo
Producer/Story by Chiara Vannucchi

One man, his son and grandson continue their ancient practice of harvesting the purple ink of a rare sea snail in southern Mexico.

Tixinda follows 80 year old Habacuc, his son and grandson as they carry out their monthly pilgrimage to the coast of Oaxaca to continue an ancient indigenous practice of harvesting the ink of a rare sea snail. The snail will then be brought back to their village to be woven into ceremonial clothes. During the film the men document the process and the risks it currently faces due to climate change and increasing development in the region.

Director: Rhys Lewis is a filmmaker, anthropologist and graduate of the Visual Anthropology masters from the University of Manchester. He has worked in TV as a researcher on various factual entertainment programmes for the BBC and Channel 4. As a filmmaker he has produced several films related to immigration and identity in the UK and the USA, most recently co-directing a documentary about young undocumented Mexican immigrants living in Chicago, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Duration: 8mins      Film location: Mexico

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A story of one Soviet factory

Directed by Nadya Gorodetskaya

In a post-Soviet Siberian town, factory workers are still coming to terms with a new way of working, as they reflect on the past heights of the Space Race.

For almost 70 years, the Soviet Union operated on the basis of a centrally planned economy. Since the collapse of Communism in the early 1990s, Russia has experienced difficulties in making the transition to a market based economy – and so did the workers in previously state-run facilities. The film visits one of these factories, deep in the middle of the Siberian forest, to see how they are doing in their transition to capitalism. The electromechanical plant was built in the 60s to serve the Soviet military and space industries, and had to find new ways of working to survive.

Director: Nadya Gorodetskaya is a freelance filmmaker from Novosibirsk, Russia, currently working and living in the UK since 2011. She worked as a photojournalist in various newspapers in Russia, and studied cinematography at the St Petersburg University of Film and TV. Nadya works as a camera operator and editor, as well as managing a production company called Motiohead that specialises in 3D, animation and motion graphics.

Duration: 20mins      Film location: Russia

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