Searching Traces – Malta

In cooperation with the Sustainable Design Collective, Malta the association diyalog is organizing a video workshop series for third country nationals and native communities in Malta.

The first workshop will take place between the 16th and 24th of March. A second workshop will follow in May.

Next workshop takes place between September 18 and October 2, 2018 at the Volunteer Center in Valletta

Watch the results of the first workshop at StreetWalking

Workshop-Outline by Sabine Küper-Büsch & Thomas Büsch

The participants will learn to use the narration-style of video-filmmaking with smart phones and simple video devices to express personal experiences, visions and their aspirations regarding community life in short movies of approximately one to five Minutes.

Strategy: mobilization of creative phantasy by learning a new expression mode. Publication of the results on our Online video platform and on our social media platforms: StreetWalking

Themes and prospects: The workshop, the online-publication and the final screening will contribute to an intercultural exchange of important experiences. Migrants journeys, their prospects in the destinations they reach, and their visions for the future are some of the central themes. Besides: what kind of expectations do the Locals in the host countries have regarding migration? How can migration enrich community live? Which kind of stories, fairy tales, music styles, visualization tools can we explore when we are working together as a group with participants from different parts of the world? Which concrete steps can help inclusion and do provide a gain for all?

Methodology and target group: The process of finding a topic, developing a storyline and finally producing a short movie will be the basic structure of the first workshop. Beginners and people with basic knowledge of Video filmmaking are addressed. Migrants from different communities and local Maltese are the target group.

The workshop-trainers: We are German citizens residing in Istanbul for more than 20 years and consider ourselves migrants. We travelled and worked a lot in the Middle East, Central Asia and Southern European Countries and count on the important synergies we experienced working in diverse groups. Every workshop is a working process for instructors and participants as well. Malta is a very promising place for the medium short film for us due to the vivid rich history, the beauty of the archipelago and the diversity of the population.

Sustainability: Searching Traces Malta is a project with a future vision. Our major plan is to coach a community of filmmakers- and experts for film-production. Starting in March we will teach a small group of selected people within two weekends and some evening-sessions (6 days – 18 hours) the basics to produce short-films: camera technique, film narration and concept making.  The films will express the living situation, cultural identity, experiences and prospects of migration and the search for personal traces. Locals will develop their own topics. We favor mixed groups and encourage participants to feel free about the narration style. We can work in documentary-style, in music-video-mode or narrate short fictional films. The first group will produce their films with our support. The first results will be published online and discussed within the group and in social media.

Perspectives: Participant who are interested in a continuation of “Searching Traces” with films can join the second workshop in May. We would consider them as potential “future trainers”. We are planning to coach a staff of film experts to continue working with.

In May, we will meet the participants of the first workshop and additional newcomers (up to 20) in Malta again for the second personal workshop.  In 18 hours we do a basic introduction to the larger group again and teach the former participants some advanced techniques. The advanced group’s participants are invited to attend the workshop for the newcomers as assistant instructors and to coach them producing their first films together with us. As a result of the second workshop unite we will have the Videos of the beginners and some additional works by the advanced.

Goals: After one week of workshop the advanced participants from the first workshop will continue to work with the newcomers in weekly meetings for 2 to 3 hours and guide the whole group to create their own short video coached and technical supported by us over the Internet. We will do Online support-sessions to work together on films. The goal will be to have a set of short films to be screened during the Mahalla Festival in November 2018.

The participation is free of charge.

Sabine Küper & Thomas Büsch, Istanbul, February 2018

Watch as well the Searching Traces Channel at our video magazine StreetWalking.

Mahalla Festival

The workshop program is part of a strategy to develop and support cultural productions for peace building, inclusion and diversity in Europe.

A final screening in fall 2018 will present selected results to the local communities accompanied by discussions with the participants of the workshops and experienced filmmaker, stakeholders and the hosting community of Malta.

The workshop will be as well part of the Mahalla festival taking place in Malta in fall 2018 organized by the Foundation DIYALOG Malta (Maltese foundation in founding). The festival will be dedicated to migration, exile and cultural identity and will be a startup-event for cultural initiatives, stakeholders, cultural mediators and artist to exchange their experiences in this field, to help creatives with migration background to settle in the host communities and to develop a new narration on the creative potential and intercultural chances of migration and mobility in different media (film/video, literature, architecture, fine arts and theater).

The Conductors

Sabine Küper-Büsch and Thomas Büsch are cross-media journalists, film-makers and experts in web-content management. Both are based in Istanbul, Turkey. Together they are directing features and documentaries in the field of culture and society mostly for German speaking TV channels from the region of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and the Mediterranean Sea. Their teaching fields include classical journalistic forms, short film, documentary and creative multimedia tools.

Since more than 10 years both authors conducted many video workshops in Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq and Germany, enabling people with different backgrounds to express their experiences, visions and feelings in a creative film narration: StreetWalking

For further information and to participate please send us a note

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