|
| Being a Human Being
|
|
|
|
| |
Being a Human Being is a series of six documentaries based on six human universal needs: sustenance, love, faith, culture, fear and hope. Headed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba), this ambitious project received the collaboration of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Spanish NGO Kultura Communication Desarrollo. To implement it, young filmmakers from seven film schools in the world worked together to narrate, from their own perspective, the stories of inhabitants from eight communities on the planet. A book of the same title accompanies the documentary series, a text that gives a step-by-step account of the sometimes slow and winding, sometimes fast and dynamic path to this singular initiative.
In 1986, a chance encounter between a Kenyan peasant woman and an Australian filmmaker triggered this transoceanic project that reveals through documentaries of a high technical and aesthetic quality how very much we have in common and how incredibly interesting is what sets us apart. During the conversation that took place over thirty years ago in Kenya, when the filmmaker apologizes for taking a picture of her, she tells him there is no need to apologize because she knows him very well. She says that he is a human being, and that there are six things that all human beings have in common. The first need she mentions is sustenance, namely food, water and shelter. Love is the second, “since we all need a family, friends and neighbours”. The third, she continues, is culture “so we can know who we are”. The fourth is faith, for we have to believe in something, “no matter what”. The fifth is fear. The African woman explains that fear is the need that drives us to resist and search for our liberation as a human being. Lastly, the sixth need is hope, since “without a sense of the future, there is no sense in life”.
Students from the Institute of Cinematographic Arts of the Red Sea (Jordan) chose the Bedouins, from the community of Little Petra, to describe the needs that make us both the same and different. The indigenous Wayuus from northern Colombia offer their testimony and show their ability to survive and enrich our common universal culture through their traditions and rituals, stories that were recorded by the team from the Film and Television Programme of the University of Magdalena. The Voices from Oceania, a Polynesian community of Samoa, play the leading roles in the stories filmed by the Department of Film, Television, and Media Studies of the University of Auckland (New Zealand). The communities in Harlem, New York, and El Rastro in Madrid, were targeted by young filmmakers from the Department of Media & Communication Arts of the City College of New York (United States) and from the Film Institute of Madrid NIC (Spain), respectively. Craftsmakers of gods, artisans of idols from northern Calcutta would be the proposal of the Film and Television Institute of India. And lastly, Mata los Indios, an Afro-Caribbean community from the Dominican Republic, and Regoufe, a far-off village in Portugal, were filmed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba).
UNESCO’S contribution to this project goes beyond the financial support provided. The concepts with which the Organization works since its founding are closely linked to the humanist vision of Being a Human Being, as stated by Herman van Hoof, director of the UNESCO Office in Havana, in the prologue to the book published in honour of the project:
"Since its founding UNESCO has stressed the need to develop a new world community where understanding and mutual respect reign supreme. The initiative Being a Human Being shares this same viewpoint. Through the eyes of young filmmakers we are able to see a portrait of humanity that reflects the rich diversity of our cultures and identities, as well as our common goal of addressing the problems of our current society through understanding and dialogue. A new humanism is needed to build bridges, since it is not possible to achieve lasting and prosperous peace without humanity’s intellectual and moral cooperation”.
This documentary series was screened during 2012 at several film events, among them, the International Unseen Festival of Bilbao, Spain (September) and the Icaro Central American Film Festival, Guatemala (24 November-1 December). It was also shown in Spanish cultural institutions, such as the Centro de Estudios Ciudad de la Luz (Alicante) and the House of America in Madrid.
Leaflet " Ser un ser humano" (AVAILABLE ONLY IN SPANISH) Being a Human Being is a series of six documentaries based on six human universal needs: sustenance, love, faith, culture, fear and hope. Headed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba), this ambitious project received the collaboration of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Spanish NGO Kultura Communication Desarrollo. To implement it, young filmmakers from seven film schools in the world worked together to narrate, from their own perspective, the stories of inhabitants from eight communities on the planet. A book of the same title accompanies the documentary series, a text that gives a step-by-step account of the sometimes slow and winding, sometimes fast and dynamic path to this singular initiative.
In 1986, a chance encounter between a Kenyan peasant woman and an Australian filmmaker triggered this transoceanic project that reveals through documentaries of a high technical and aesthetic quality how very much we have in common and how incredibly interesting is what sets us apart. During the conversation that took place over thirty years ago in Kenya, when the filmmaker apologizes for taking a picture of her, she tells him there is no need to apologize because she knows him very well. She says that he is a human being, and that there are six things that all human beings have in common. The first need she mentions is sustenance, namely food, water and shelter. Love is the second, “since we all need a family, friends and neighbours”. The third, she continues, is culture “so we can know who we are”. The fourth is faith, for we have to believe in something, “no matter what”. The fifth is fear. The African woman explains that fear is the need that drives us to resist and search for our liberation as a human being. Lastly, the sixth need is hope, since “without a sense of the future, there is no sense in life”.
Students from the Institute of Cinematographic Arts of the Red Sea (Jordan) chose the Bedouins, from the community of Little Petra, to describe the needs that make us both the same and different. The indigenous Wayuus from northern Colombia offer their testimony and show their ability to survive and enrich our common universal culture through their traditions and rituals, stories that were recorded by the team from the Film and Television Programme of the University of Magdalena. The Voices from Oceania, a Polynesian community of Samoa, play the leading roles in the stories filmed by the Department of Film, Television, and Media Studies of the University of Auckland (New Zealand). The communities in Harlem, New York, and El Rastro in Madrid, were targeted by young filmmakers from the Department of Media & Communication Arts of the City College of New York (United States) and from the Film Institute of Madrid NIC (Spain), respectively. Craftsmakers of gods, artisans of idols from northern Calcutta would be the proposal of the Film and Television Institute of India. And lastly, Mata los Indios, an Afro-Caribbean community from the Dominican Republic, and Regoufe, a far-off village in Portugal, were filmed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba).
UNESCO’S contribution to this project goes beyond the financial support provided. The concepts with which the Organization works since its founding are closely linked to the humanist vision of Being a Human Being, as stated by Herman van Hoof, director of the UNESCO Office in Havana, in the prologue to the book published in honour of the project:
"Since its founding UNESCO has stressed the need to develop a new world community where understanding and mutual respect reign supreme. The initiative Being a Human Being shares this same viewpoint. Through the eyes of young filmmakers we are able to see a portrait of humanity that reflects the rich diversity of our cultures and identities, as well as our common goal of addressing the problems of our current society through understanding and dialogue. A new humanism is needed to build bridges, since it is not possible to achieve lasting and prosperous peace without humanity’s intellectual and moral cooperation”.
This documentary series was screened during 2012 at several film events, among them, the International Unseen Festival of Bilbao, Spain (September) and the Icaro Central American Film Festival, Guatemala (24 November-1 December). It was also shown in Spanish cultural institutions, such as the Centro de Estudios Ciudad de la Luz (Alicante) and the House of America in Madrid.
Leaflet " Ser un ser humano" (AVAILABLE ONLY IN SPANISH) Being a Human Being is a series of six documentaries based on six human universal needs: sustenance, love, faith, culture, fear and hope. Headed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba), this ambitious project received the collaboration of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Spanish NGO Kultura Communication Desarrollo. To implement it, young filmmakers from seven film schools in the world worked together to narrate, from their own perspective, the stories of inhabitants from eight communities on the planet. A book of the same title accompanies the documentary series, a text that gives a step-by-step account of the sometimes slow and winding, sometimes fast and dynamic path to this singular initiative.
In 1986, a chance encounter between a Kenyan peasant woman and an Australian filmmaker triggered this transoceanic project that reveals through documentaries of a high technical and aesthetic quality how very much we have in common and how incredibly interesting is what sets us apart. During the conversation that took place over thirty years ago in Kenya, when the filmmaker apologizes for taking a picture of her, she tells him there is no need to apologize because she knows him very well. She says that he is a human being, and that there are six things that all human beings have in common. The first need she mentions is sustenance, namely food, water and shelter. Love is the second, “since we all need a family, friends and neighbours”. The third, she continues, is culture “so we can know who we are”. The fourth is faith, for we have to believe in something, “no matter what”. The fifth is fear. The African woman explains that fear is the need that drives us to resist and search for our liberation as a human being. Lastly, the sixth need is hope, since “without a sense of the future, there is no sense in life”.
Students from the Institute of Cinematographic Arts of the Red Sea (Jordan) chose the Bedouins, from the community of Little Petra, to describe the needs that make us both the same and different. The indigenous Wayuus from northern Colombia offer their testimony and show their ability to survive and enrich our common universal culture through their traditions and rituals, stories that were recorded by the team from the Film and Television Programme of the University of Magdalena. The Voices from Oceania, a Polynesian community of Samoa, play the leading roles in the stories filmed by the Department of Film, Television, and Media Studies of the University of Auckland (New Zealand). The communities in Harlem, New York, and El Rastro in Madrid, were targeted by young filmmakers from the Department of Media & Communication Arts of the City College of New York (United States) and from the Film Institute of Madrid NIC (Spain), respectively. Craftsmakers of gods, artisans of idols from northern Calcutta would be the proposal of the Film and Television Institute of India. And lastly, Mata los Indios, an Afro-Caribbean community from the Dominican Republic, and Regoufe, a far-off village in Portugal, were filmed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba).
UNESCO’S contribution to this project goes beyond the financial support provided. The concepts with which the Organization works since its founding are closely linked to the humanist vision of Being a Human Being, as stated by Herman van Hoof, director of the UNESCO Office in Havana, in the prologue to the book published in honour of the project:
"Since its founding UNESCO has stressed the need to develop a new world community where understanding and mutual respect reign supreme. The initiative Being a Human Being shares this same viewpoint. Through the eyes of young filmmakers we are able to see a portrait of humanity that reflects the rich diversity of our cultures and identities, as well as our common goal of addressing the problems of our current society through understanding and dialogue. A new humanism is needed to build bridges, since it is not possible to achieve lasting and prosperous peace without humanity’s intellectual and moral cooperation”.
This documentary series was screened during 2012 at several film events, among them, the International Unseen Festival of Bilbao, Spain (September) and the Icaro Central American Film Festival, Guatemala (24 November-1 December). It was also shown in Spanish cultural institutions, such as the Centro de Estudios Ciudad de la Luz (Alicante) and the House of America in Madrid.
Leaflet " Ser un ser humano" (AVAILABLE ONLY IN SPANISH) Being a Human Being is a series of six documentaries based on six human universal needs: sustenance, love, faith, culture, fear and hope. Headed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba), this ambitious project received the collaboration of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Spanish NGO Kultura Communication Desarrollo. To implement it, young filmmakers from seven film schools in the world worked together to narrate, from their own perspective, the stories of inhabitants from eight communities on the planet. A book of the same title accompanies the documentary series, a text that gives a step-by-step account of the sometimes slow and winding, sometimes fast and dynamic path to this singular initiative.
In 1986, a chance encounter between a Kenyan peasant woman and an Australian filmmaker triggered this transoceanic project that reveals through documentaries of a high technical and aesthetic quality how very much we have in common and how incredibly interesting is what sets us apart. During the conversation that took place over thirty years ago in Kenya, when the filmmaker apologizes for taking a picture of her, she tells him there is no need to apologize because she knows him very well. She says that he is a human being, and that there are six things that all human beings have in common. The first need she mentions is sustenance, namely food, water and shelter. Love is the second, “since we all need a family, friends and neighbours”. The third, she continues, is culture “so we can know who we are”. The fourth is faith, for we have to believe in something, “no matter what”. The fifth is fear. The African woman explains that fear is the need that drives us to resist and search for our liberation as a human being. Lastly, the sixth need is hope, since “without a sense of the future, there is no sense in life”.
Students from the Institute of Cinematographic Arts of the Red Sea (Jordan) chose the Bedouins, from the community of Little Petra, to describe the needs that make us both the same and different. The indigenous Wayuus from northern Colombia offer their testimony and show their ability to survive and enrich our common universal culture through their traditions and rituals, stories that were recorded by the team from the Film and Television Programme of the University of Magdalena. The Voices from Oceania, a Polynesian community of Samoa, play the leading roles in the stories filmed by the Department of Film, Television, and Media Studies of the University of Auckland (New Zealand). The communities in Harlem, New York, and El Rastro in Madrid, were targeted by young filmmakers from the Department of Media & Communication Arts of the City College of New York (United States) and from the Film Institute of Madrid NIC (Spain), respectively. Craftsmakers of gods, artisans of idols from northern Calcutta would be the proposal of the Film and Television Institute of India. And lastly, Mata los Indios, an Afro-Caribbean community from the Dominican Republic, and Regoufe, a far-off village in Portugal, were filmed by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba).
UNESCO’S contribution to this project goes beyond the financial support provided. The concepts with which the Organization works since its founding are closely linked to the humanist vision of Being a Human Being, as stated by Herman van Hoof, director of the UNESCO Office in Havana, in the prologue to the book published in honour of the project:
"Since its founding UNESCO has stressed the need to develop a new world community where understanding and mutual respect reign supreme. The initiative Being a Human Being shares this same viewpoint. Through the eyes of young filmmakers we are able to see a portrait of humanity that reflects the rich diversity of our cultures and identities, as well as our common goal of addressing the problems of our current society through understanding and dialogue. A new humanism is needed to build bridges, since it is not possible to achieve lasting and prosperous peace without humanity’s intellectual and moral cooperation”.
This documentary series was screened during 2012 at several film events, among them, the International Unseen Festival of Bilbao, Spain (September) and the Icaro Central American Film Festival, Guatemala (24 November-1 December). It was also shown in Spanish cultural institutions, such as the Centro de Estudios Ciudad de la Luz (Alicante) and the House of America in Madrid.
Leaflet "Ser un ser humano" (AVAILABLE ONLY IN SPANISH) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top