Seeing is Believing - Handicams, Human Rights and the News

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Labrador City
Tuesday June 17, 2008
Screening begins 18h30
Venue: 401 Avalon - Youth Center

Canada / 2002 / 58

In Collaboration with London Indymedia.

It may be the greatest media technology paradigm shift since TV's advent. From Rodney King to Osama Bin Laden, handicams aren't just for weddings and family vacations anymore. Over the past decade, amateur camcorders have become the eyes of the world when no one else is watching.

Human rights activists, war crimes investigators, right-wing proselytizers and ordinary citizens are arming themselves with the tools of the new visual revolution. For two years filmmakers Katerina Cizek and Peter Wintonick crossed the world tracking media activists to look at what happens when front-line advocates pick up personal camcorders to document what they see. What are the risks and responsibilities? What are the wider impacts on television, audiences, and society?

SEEING IS BELIEVING discusses the history of the camcorder and illuminates the work and words of key international journalists and media activists. And it shines a verité spotlight on the compelling story of Joey Lozano, a courageous video-activist who documents rights abuses against indigenous people in dangerous corners of the Philippines. But does Joey's camera prevent violence - or jeopardize lives?

Drawn from original shooting around the world, and sampling hundreds of hours of exclusive contemporary archives, SEEING IS BELIEVING provides a dramatic and multi-faceted window into the power of do-it-yourself filmmaking.

Katerina Cizek/ Peter Wintonick

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