Bali, 27 July 2006 – The community of Serangan will hold premier screening of  community films “Menepis Bayangan Reklamasi” (Turning the Shadow to Light),   “Bulung Tak Lagi Di Sanggah” (No More Seaweed in the Sacred Temple) dan “Perempuan di Banjar Ponjok” (Woman in Ponjok Banjar) on the veranda of village temple in Serangan. The films are the results of observatory film and visual anthropology approach as learned during a film workshop “Self-Documentation of  Community Experiences in Addressing Ecological Challenges”, held from 17-28 July 2006. Community video is used as tools to document the impacts of ecological changes and poverty after the reclamation project of Serangan Island. In the end of the workshop, 16 participants from civil society organizations and indigenous peoples from 6 islands in Indonesia will be launching a network and virtual storage for community video www.videokomunitas.com.

 “I see community video is useful in boosting community’s self confidence. When made by professionals, we don’t know the process and the story line. This tool is very powerful to change our behaviour. We can see (through camera and film) how our habit in coral mining and potassium cyanide use are very destructive. We need to see long term impacts and benefits,” said Wayan Patut, indigenous community organizer of Serangan.

“We are not to be spectators in our own land. We can prove that indigenous peoples like us can make our own film. Not only to document rituals and cultural events, but to document important meetings and agreement that must take into account our voices. Those who hold power and authority shall know that we are watching and documenting (what they are saying),” accounted Rizal Mahfud, head of youth group FOHTKA in Ngata Toro, Kulawi, Central Sulawesi.

“Watching pictures is a liberating experience where we are free to imagine through many of different perspectives. Community video can have powerful impact for community after watching their own image and relationships with their living environment,” as shared by Roem Topatimasang—a veteran in community organizers of INSIST, a Yogyakarta-based NGO. Roem has been using basic camera and technology since 1988 when assisting Yamdena’s community in facing the state violence as consequence of civil disobedience action against logging. He also uses film as means of public education on the impacts of bomb fishing and the use of potassium cyanide in Kei Islands, South East Maluku.

“Honesty is the strength in observatory film. Honest documentation of a process can be used as accountability measures and to show the complexity in achieving common goal. Emotional expressions and honest gestures in dealing uncertainties are very challenging to be captured through written report. The nuances and intensity of unheard voices from community can be presented and felt through observatory film,” explained Aryo Danusiri a professional film maker and visual anthropologist who found RAGAM—a Jakarta-based non-profit organization working on cross-boundaries film documentation. He lives in Aceh for the last 6 months to document the process of housing and reconstruction by the tsunami survivors.

“Community based video has been used to ensure community’s voice to be heard at international level such as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held in New York, May 2006, in which the members screened their comments that they recorded themselves on large screen before the world decision makers. It will be beneficial to have a network to enable exchanges of footages recorded through community’s own perspectives,” stated by Avi Mahaningtyas, National Coordinator of GEF SGP Indonesia, a multilateral programme in support of UN environment convention such as Convention on Biological Diversity and achievement of Millennium Development Goals.