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For our first videos together, I asked the children to write scripts about their lives. From these scripts, we made four movies. In addition to the scripts, the children made decisions about the masks that they wore, wardrobe and location. I made decisions about camera angle and lighting. We edited these films together and produced and displayed them publicly in Addis Ababa. I subtitled them in English for foreign audiences. Above is a short excerpt from one of the scenes. The masks came about from a long discussion, first about how to protect the identities of the members of Sudden Flowers, many of whom would have been stigmatized for being associated with HIV/AIDS and poverty. Once we began rehearsing with the masks, however, some voiced concerns that the masks hindered their acting capacities. In the end, we decided to use the masks not to hide their faces but because the members of Sudden Flowers agreed that the masks were an accurate symbol for how they had been treated by society How do these videos relate to the children’s memories of their real experiences? Are these true stories? It’s a complex question. They are all versions of the truth that these kids have reimagined, and in some cases fictionalized, for whatever medium we are using, whether it is photography, text, audio or video. You can see synopses of other videos we made together and purchase DVDs of the videos at www.thevisioncollective.org. |