Filming 2 social media videos about youth-led, climate change initiatives for UNICEF
As part of Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap, I was asked to produce 2, short social media videos to showcase the young people’s climate-led initiatives.
The request was made on the second morning of the shoot, which didn’t give us much time, but the UNICEF communications team had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve and everyone was in agreement that the young people’s campaigns were impressive. It was important to give young people a voice and the videos would be a strong tool for advocacy.
We decided to make two short videos. One about Fantastic 5, a group of five girls who had created an app to educate people about plastic use and deforestation.
The second video featured 3 of the young people’s campaigns including Fantastic 5, YOSO, a project about solar power and campaign about reducing the use of plastic in the community.
Fantastic 5
In Cambodia, it’s not uncommon for people to take videos and upload them to their own platforms. While it’s a complement for Apsara to post the video, the adverts for energy drinks they added aren’t really appropriate for the content!
Video showcasing 3 youth-led climate initiatives
Kitty Van Der Heidjen will be leading a UNICEF delegation to the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan and there will be representation from Cambodia.
My hope is that the videos can be shown at the conference and hopefully they can make a small change to give young people a voice at the table. It’s important that more resources are made available to support young people as ultimately the future of the planet is theirs.
Collaborating with the EU as a videographer on a range of projects
It was great to collaborate Landell Mills and the EU as a videographer on a range of projects including Pedal for the Planet, Erasmus + and Radiation Monitoring.
Pedal for the Planet
Pedal for the Planet: It is Time to Change Gears on Climate is an EU intitiative to promote cycling in Phnom Penh and the rest of Cambodia as a whole.
As a keen cyclist myself and someone who makes an effort to live in a sustainable way, it was great work as a videographer on this project.
Having spent COVID in Phnom Penh, it was great to see more and more locals taking up cycling.
Hopefully this kind of event will guarantee that this trend continues and the perception of cycling evolves from being seen as a form of transport for people who can’t afford a motorbike or car to being seen as a green, healthy leisure activity.
Erasmus + in Cambodia
The Erasmus + programme is close to my heart as 2 of my siblings are alumni. It was great to work as a videographer on a couple of videos highlighting the experiences lecturers and civil servants who have benefitted from the scheme and students who want to study in Europe.
It’s a great opportunity for lecturers and students to study and live in Europe. Hopefully this will be an enriching experience both personally and professionally and when people return, they’ll be able to share their experience and implement some of the things they’ve learned to develop the education system here.
Radiation Monitoring
The production of the video was a collaboration between Pixel Peers, MME and myself. MME have their own videography team and supplied footage of the radiation monitoring early warning systems being installed in a number of locations across Cambodia.
Pixel Peers then provided the motion graphics and I edited the video.
There were 2 iterations of the video. One was shown at the launch of the project. I then covered the inauguration as a videographer and cut in images and speeches to produce a second version to be distributed online.
Working with MME was a pleasure. It’s a dynamic, forward-thinking ministry who are doing some great work.
You can see more examples of my work for the EU here and more examples of my documentary work here.
On Assignment for WHO - Directing 4 Videos About their Social Prescribing Campaign
I was commissioned by the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office to direct 4 videos about their Social Prescribing for Healthy Aging programme in Cambodia to form part of their training toolkit. The toolkit provides implementing partners with an overview of the best practices of how implement social prescribing at the community level.
The Social Prescribing for Healthy Aging programme is a way for healthcare workers to connect people to a range of non-clinical services in the community and to help the elderly not feel anxiety, loneliness or depression.
The toolkit is designed for policy makers and community health centres to help them run effective social prescribing schemes.
The brief was to make 4 videos to highlight the key aspects of successfully implementing social prescribing schemes.
The first video (above) features Dr Kao Sovandara, a lecturer at The Royal University of Phnom Penh and part of the lead team implementing social prescribing in Cambodia. He gives an overview of the programme, the training they provide and how that works at a grassroots level.
The second video features Yem Sameoun, who is a commune councillor responsible for running the scheme in her community. She talks about the training she receives, the work she does in the community and the positive outcomes.
The third video features Nget Krin, an elderly community member. She talks about the situation she faces, the support she receives and how that makes her feel.
The fourth video features Dr Khan Sareth, a lecturer at The Royal University of Phnom Penh and part of the lead team implementing social prescribing in Cambodia. He gives an overview of what they’ve achieved and reflects on how the scheme can be improved in the future.
While the project is intrinsically nebulous in nature, I hope it can have an impact in Cambodia, regionally and in the rest of the world. As the world’s population is aging, it’s increasingly important to make sure everyone feels included within their communities.
Veasna's Story - Working as an NGO videographer on a case study for VSO
This is the second case study I made on assignment as an NGO videographer for VSO.
The video tells the story of Veasna and the positive impact VSO’s RECOVER project has had on her livelihood.
As part of the project, Veasna received agricultural training and financial support to improve her growing facilities.
Held in the community with other vegetable growers the training shows Veasna best practices about what to grow, how to grow it and pest control.
Veasna has used the financial support she received to construct a net house for growing higher value crops.
VSO have also set up agricultural cooperatives. This gives the vegetable growers additional selling power as the cooperative can sell larger quantites direct to market.
They sign contracts to guarantee fair prices for their vegetables and a constant source of income.
A storage facility has also been built in the community so the vegetable growers can store their vegetables to cut down on wastage and to be able to control the sale of the vegetables they grow to the market.
It was great to see the positive relationship Veasna had with Ravuth, the trainer, and how she is looking to expand her growing activities in the future so she can support her young family.
Below is the final video:
And here’s the shorter version I made for social media:
On Assignment as an NGO videographer for VSO
I was contracted by the NGO VSO to work as a videographer to produce 2 case studies to highlight their RECOVER project.
The RECOVER project, funded by the EU, is a technical vocational education and training programme (TVET) designed to help people in rural communities recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is important to provide viable livelihoods for the almost 75 percent of people in Cambodia living in rural communities, to alleviate poverty and to prevent people having to migrate for work.
This video tells the story of Thavy. Thavy worked in South Korea, but when COVID-19 hit, she wanted to return home to be with her family.
Thavy enrolled in an agroprocessing course run by VSO where she learnt to make banana chips, which she now sells in her shop to supplement her income.
The chips are a healthy snack enjoyed be people in her village. The TVET training has taught Thavy valuable entrepreneurial skills. She’s looking at adding new flavours and expanding her product line and it allows her to live at home and look after her elderly mum.
Here’s the final video:
As part of the project, I also made a shorter version of the video for social media, which hopefully expands the reach of the campaign.
You can see more examples of my NGO videos here. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss any NGO video projects.