Camara Sika

2 to 20 December 2019

Thirteen five-day workshops were held between 2 and 20 December, 2019, wherein students from the 13 schools participated. The workshops were led by the mentors and respective school educators who were supported by the three UK experts. Fifteen students participated in each workshop with a minimum of 50% of girls. During the workshop the participants learned to: 

• Brainstorm story ideas 
• Draft scripts and storyboard  
• Handle filmmaking and editing equipment (both hardware and software) 
• Learned the basic technicalities of filmmaking 
• Observe their surrounding and take inspiration from social issues prevalent  
• Make use of filmmaking as a tool to tell stories and express 

All 13 schools have completed at least one short film as part of the workshop. 

All trained mentors have been awarded grants — through the support of UNICEF — to continue work with their respective partner schools in order to provide guidance to the students to continue work on film production. All schools, teaming up with their mentors, will be producing at least one film based on the themes: 

• Mental Health 
• Online Safety
• Child Marriage 
• Climate Change 

The films are slated to be completed by the students in September. 

*Please note that production has been halted until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown.

A digital showcase of all films produced through Camara sika in 2019-2020 is being planned for October. This will be a digital children’s film festival, the first of its kind in Nepal and will feature films produced in Nepal as well as films produced by and for young people from around the world. The collection will be jointly curated by Into Film and the British Council and its organisation will be supported by KIMFF. 

*Dates for the festival will be released later during the year.

Into Film and the UK trainers worked to put together a standalone setup for young people to use to produce films.

In the above image, in the centre of the setup is an Apple Ipad that can be used for all phases of filmmaking including screenwriting/storyboarding, audio/video production, editing and post-production. Microphones, lenses and other filmmaking gear are attached to the rig in order to efficiency and quality.

On 14 December a group discussion titled Creative Engagement of Children through Film was held at the Nepal Tourism Board conference hall. The discussion was led by: 

• Tania Dhakhwa – Chief of Communications – UNICEF Nepal 
• Sapan Hamal – International Youth Media Summit  
• Ben Woodiwiss – Into Film – Camara Chica 

The UK experts who travelled here to facilitate the workshops also participated in the discussion. During the talk, all speakers talked about their work through their respective organisations and stressed the importance of young people participating in the production of content that becomes a means for them to express, tell stories and realise their situation in the global context.