Projects

We Own TV

WeOwnTV is a collaborative media project that promotes self-expression as a way to explore our shared humanity and bridge cultural divides. Our first program uses community based media workshops to teach filmmaking techniques to a group of young Sierra Leonean ex-combatants and survivors of their country’s civil war. WeOwnTV will provide the technical support, encouragement and training that will allow these young adults to creatively produce their own media and share their experiences and ideas with the world.

The communities we are interested in working with suffer unfortunate logistical realities and gross inequalities in access to computers and telecommunication networks. The Internet and new media technologies have the potential to democratize our global dialogue and bring a revolutionary balance to the existing corporate media system. WeOwnTV will also provide a means of distribution and support to help these important stories be heard. This interactive exchange will create ongoing relationships, connecting project participants to a global community, creating future business opportunities and giving them a voice in the global dialogue that is shaping their future. ( visit )

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars

The plight of the refugee in today’s war-torn world is captured in the African proverb, “When two elephants are fighting, the grass will suffer.” So it was in Sierra Leone from 1991-2002, where the government and various rebel factions carried out a brutal civil war in which the terrorizing of civilians — by killing, mutilation, rape, and forced conscription — was common practice on all sides. The war sent hundreds of thousands of ordinary Sierra Leoneans fleeing to refugee camps in the neighboring West African nation of the Republic of Guinea. That’s where the remarkable documentary Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars begins. ( visit )