Videographing Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap for UNICEF
It was a pleasure to be contacted by UNICEF to make a video of Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap. UNICEF’s communications department are always easy to work with. They have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. They provided me with a solid brief that we went over during pre-production so everyone was clear on what the outputs would be.
Kitty Van Der Heidjen is the Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships for UNICEF. She visited a school in Siem Reap to see how UNICEF has been supporting the life skill development for young people.
In the morning we visited a school and the students made presentations about their campaigns to raise awareness about the environment and climate change.
Kitty was impressed by what she saw. ‘I have been completely amazed by what I saw. In front of me on the podium, I had 12-year-olds, mostly girls, by the way, who were talking about climate change,’ she said.
‘They were talking about what they saw in their community. They were talking about what they saw in their community in terms of how that is impacting their lives. and the need to collect waste and the need to recycle waste,’ she added.
Kitty was also impressed by the tree planting campaign run by the students, ‘They were talking about planting trees and making sure that the trees were well-maintained, so that we could actually do something about climate change.’
In the afternoon we visited the communities to see the positive changes the young people’s projects had created.
‘A big part of what they are doing is not just talking about this in their classroom, but really talking to their parents, talking to other classmates, talking to their communities and making change happen,’ said Kitty.
It was a challenging shoot as Siem Reap was suffering from a heatwave and a severe drought that was taking away vital income from the communities surrounding the school.
‘The village pond, where they would take tourists to go on a boat ride is gone,’ said Kitty.
While the situation is dire, it was great to see youth-led initiatives making such a positive impact in their communities. Hopefully UNICEF can expand their work in this area both in Cambodia and globally and Kitty can mobilise more youth to join the Green Rising movement.
You can see more examples of my work with UNICEF here and here.
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 Location as a Lighting Camera Operator and Sound Recordist for the European Union
With very short notice, I was called upon to work for the EU as a lighting camera operator and sound recordist on The Third Global Conference on Assistance to the Victims of Anti-Personnel Mines and Other Explosive Ordnance in a Disability Rights Context.
This was second job of part of a very productive relationship working as the lead videographer with Landel Mills to provide a range of video content for the EU delegation in Cambodia.
I lit the interviews with 2 x Aputure Storm 300D mkii LEDs and ran a Sony a7iv and a7siii to give us 2 angles. I was also using 3 x Sennheiser radio mics with a combination of the Sony XLR-K3M Dual-Channel Digital XLR Audio Adapter Kit and a Zoom h4n Pro sound recorder to give me 3 channels when interviewing 2 people.
Below are some of the behind-the-scenes images, kindly provided by Nick Sells who was covering the event as a photographer. Nick Ray was also interviewing people. It was great to work with Nick again, who as ever, came fully-prepared with engaging questions.
The event was presided over by H.E. Ly Thuch, First Vice President of the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, H.E igor Driesmans, the EU Ambassador to Cambodia and H.R.H Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan.
Funded by the EU and hosted by the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) the conference promoted the end of suffering and new casualties caused by anti-personnel mines.
The video was well received and the EU commissioned a shorter version to be distributed on their social media channels.
In Novermber 2024, Cambodia will host the world host the Convention's Fifth Review Conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia from 25 to 29 November 2024.
You can see more examples of my work as a lighting camera operator here and here.
Collaborating with WHO on a Video Case Study About Malaria Prevention in Siem Pang, Cambodia
This was the third time in a bit over a year that I’d been hired by the World Health Organization to work as a videographer on a case study for them.
This time it was malaria prevention in Stung Treng Province following Chan Sophal, who supports The Mekong Malaria Elimination (MME) programme at the provincial level.
Sophal works with remote communities close to the Lao border in Stung Treng Province.
‘I am stationed in Stung Treng Province, with a focus on Siem Pang, which is a malaria hotspot’, he says.
Sophal works closely with the head Siem Pang Health Center and the nurse in charge of the malaria elimination programme.
‘We plan our outreach campaigns together’, he says.
It was a great experience to work as a videographer for WHO and get to follow Sophal to some of the remote villages he works in.
Siem Pang itself is very remote, but it took a small ferry, a horse and cart and small boat to get to some of the highest risk communities.
As part of the Last Mile to Malaria Elimination, Sophal and his team of Village Malaria Workers (VMW) focus on the target group of men aged 15-49 years, who go regularly go into the forest and are the most likely to catch malaria and transmit it in their community.
‘We educate and encourage them to take preventive medication before they go to the forest or other high-risk malaria areas. They have never heard of preventive treatment, so taking the medicine when they're not sick worries them a lot. It is important to build trust so the community believes the medicine is good for their health,’ he says.
The medical care and education they provide is a key factor in helping to eliminate malaria in Cambodai.
This isn’t something Sophal takes lightly.
‘The work I’m proudest of is the contribution I’ve madeto eliminating malaria in Stung Treng Province’, he says.
For me working as a videographer on projects like this is a pleasure. Sophal and his team are dedicated in their work, they’ve won the trust of the communities they work in and their efforts are having a genuine impact.
Here’s a shorter version that was used as part of WHO’s 75th annievrsary social media campaign.
Drone photography and videography for Steff Gruber | Aerial Visuals in Phnom Penh
Steff got in touch with me to provide drone photography and videography services for a long-term photographic project he’s working on about the community that live on the railway tracks behind the station in Phnom Penh.
He was trying to get permission to film from one of the trains to give the perspective from a train passing through the community. This proved too complicated and he came up with the idea to photograph and take videos of the area with a drone to complete the project before he flew back Switzerland the following day.
Steff has been visiting the area for several years doing a study on the area that is right in the centre of Phnom Penh but remains massively underdeveloped. While slightly daunting for Steff and I and the team, locals barely battered an eye-lid as trains passed centimeters from them.
Steff plans to host an exhibition of his photos and my drone shots in the coming months. He aslo got me to shoot some drone videography to be used on the website for the exhibition and who knows, maybe a couple of the clips may feature in the exhibition itself.
It was great to work alongside Steff and listen to advice from an accomplished filmmaker and photograper. It also good to see someone working on a long-term project that has spanned several years in a world that is increasingly becoming more instantaneous and disposable.
You can see more of my drone photography work here and other examples of my drone videography work here.
I look forward to sharing more information about the exhibition he’s planning.