[HEADLINE] SDG Filmmaking Workshop

Jakarta – LSPR Communication and Business institute in collaboration with De Montfort University Leicester, Media Discourse Centre, Documentary Media Centre, Leicester Media Productions, Coventry University, American University of Phnom Penh, Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, Nottingham Trent University, and Nottingham College officially held the 4th SDG Film Festival by doing the SDG Filmmaking Workshops. The SDG Filmmaking Workshops 2022 is divided into 6 sessions with different speakers of each session.

The first session titled An introduction to Sustainability and the #SDGFilmfest was explained by Dr. Ben Harbisher. Ben Harbisher is an Associate Professor Media Production at Coventry University. He currently teaches video and post-production in addition to supervising Doctoral projects. In this session, he explained the purposes of having the SDG Film Festival where it is designed to create awareness on how to build a sustainable environment through the art of films.

The second session topic is about Getting Started in Film delivered by Mr. David Bispham, accomplished filmmaker with credit across a range of television and cinema releases. Mr. David Bispham explains how to direct a film where we need to set the goals or the objective of the film before we start to direct one. He also explains about the technologies that can be used for productions.

The session then continued with Mr. John Coster, a UK based Journalist and Educator, He is also the Founder of the Documentary Media Centre, UK. He explained how to use a documentary film to tell our message. In documentary films, we can use stories.to deliver our purposes, make it interesting but still realistic. Adding to that, we can also use other media for social cohesion.

The fourth session was explained by Mr. Rhys Davies, A Senior Lecturer in Film at De Montfort University, Rhys Davies has over 15 years experience as a filmmaker, with theatrical release and worldwide distribution of his films. Mr. Rhys Davies encouraged us to expand our creativity especially in this Covid 19 condition where we can explore lots of new perspectives in catching stories, putting new values and messages into a film.

The next session was explained by Mr. Andre Trigg, a multi-talented filmmaker who has made dramatic films and documentary-style films for television channels, corporations, aid projects and governmental clients in the UK, USA, Australia, and Indonesia. He explains that in order to make great short documentary films, we need to engage the audiences, while giving a compact explanation and inspire positive action in the documentary films itself.

The final session was delivered by Mr. Richard Irwin, a Lecturer in Digital Media and Film Making at Nottingham College, Nottingham, England, where he leads degree programmes in Digital Media and Motion Graphics. He has worked as a countryside ranger in the UK, and currently volunteers with Wildlife Trusts on conservation and sustainability projects. He explained how we can capture the phenomenon of sustaining the lands that are impacted or might be impacted with climate change. Mr. Richard Irwin stressed that it is important to give a complete explanation on why we need to start on preventing our land from degradation and SDG Film Festival is an opportunity that can be used to increase the awareness of it.

SDG Filmfest is an annual series of workshops,where we hear from filmmakers, photographers, and academics about their experiences of working in the media, about sustainable practices, and about the underlying concerns that motivate the United Nations SDG agenda. Since 2018, SDGFilmfest recognised the scope and importance of global challenges such as equality, the environment, human and civil rights, and the need to raise awareness of these issues.

SDG Filmfest is funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, by academic institutions, and through investment from our community partners. The workshops are free to attend for staff and students at Coventry University, LSPR Communication and Business Institute, American University Phnom Penh, De Montfort University, the Asia Pacific University, Nottingham Trent University, and the Nottingham College The workshops are intended to act as a primer for the #SDGFilmfest which will be open to short film submissions in May 2022.