November 11, 2004

NEWS: Filmmakers document the plight of the world's children (SPAIN)

Filmmakers document the plight of the worldÂ?s children

MADRID, 11 November 2004 Â? Filmmakers Patricia Ferreira, Pere Joan Ventura, Chus Gutierrez, Javier Corcuera, and Javier Fesser have joined forces with UNICEF Spanish National Committee in speaking out for the children of the world.

The five filmmakers made a series of short films entitled Â?En el mundo a cada ratoÂ?. Each is contributing to UNICEF their time and effort - along with any future benefits generated from the films.

The films are based on real life stories of children living in India, Peru, Argentina, Senegal and Equatorial Guinea. Among the topics looked at are HIV/AIDS, child labour, malaria, and the rights for all children, boys and girls, to be able to attend school.

The vivid images are powerful reminders of why so much more work needs to be done in order to make the world a better place for all children.

El secreto mejor guardado tells the story of Ravi, an orphan who lives with his grandmother in Southern India. Ravi travels to a far off village to attend school; his own village rejects him in fear that Ravi may have AIDS.

Vicenta, a nurse working for a hospital in La vida efimera, learns about devastating diseases - such as malaria - that are taking the lives of children in Equatorial Guinea.

Three-year-old Maca tells us why sheÂ?s happy in Las siete alcantarillas. She soon discovers her view of reality doesnÂ?t quite correspond to that of the spectator. She lives in a slum surrounded by garbage; her older brother steals to meet the familyÂ?s needs.

In Hijas de belen, an aging woman named Eusebia recalls her broken dream of going to school to learn read and write. History repeats itself as the children in her town are also deprived of education because they have to work in order to support their families.

Binta y la granidea introduces us to seven-year-old Binta, who lives in a village in southern Senegal where she goes to school. Her cousin Soda doesnÂ?t have the same luck. A play produced by children teaches SodaÂ?s father a lesson on why education is important.

The filmmakers recently presented their work at the San Sebastián Film Festival. Premieres for the 5 films will be held on 19 November in theatres across Spain.

SOURCE: http://www.unicef.org/about/partnerships/index_24077.html

_______________________________________________
 
Chris Schuepp
Young People's Media Network - Coordinator
c/o ecmc (European Centre for Media Competence)
Bergstrasse 8 / 10th floor
D-45770 Marl
Germany
 
Tel: +49 2365 502480
Mobile: +49 176 23107083
Fax: +49 12 125 125 21981
Email: cschuepp@unicef.org
URL:  www.unicef.org/magic
Mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/youthful-media
 
The YPMN is supported by UNICEF and hosted by the ECMC.
 
The opinions and views expressed in this message and/or articles and websites linked to from this message do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.
____________________________________________

No comments: