Students Funded in 2010

The stories covered in 2010 ranged from a social circus in South Africa to people living with disability in Mozambique. Scroll down to read more about the students and the media they made.

One of the documentary films supported, Living Without Men by Yi Luo (Goldsmiths), was nominated for Best Documentary at the exposures festival of new talent in moving image, and has been nominated for an RTS Student Award. Her film won the audience award at the 13th Women's Film Festival in Seoul, the biggest Women Film Festival in Asia; claimed the second prize in documentary at the 18th Beijing Student Film Festival; and has also been selected at festivals in Jordan, India and Poland.

Another film supported in 2010, Voices from a Shattered Land, directed by Zoe Graham (University College Falmouth) has been screened at the UN in Geneva to raise awareness and create discussion on disability issues.

You can watch a trailer for 'Living Without Men' (right) or see clips from various films at our YouTube channel.

Comments from the students:

I cannot express how important this experience has been for me. It was an exceptional experience to make a film in Africa and with so much creative freedom, it shines out on my CV. On a personal level, the experience of making the film was life changing.
Emma Greaves, Goldsmiths

I think that the experience was a very good opportunity for us. It's not just about improving my skills for filming a documentary; it's a chance to know another culture, another country and a different reality.
Estefania de la Chica, Royal Holloway University of London

I very much appreciated that One World Media gave me not only financial support but also practical workshops ... As a student from a developing country, it's especially useful for me to learn the tastes of Western audiences and how to engage them with universal values. It's not about pandering to Western viewers but making voices from the developing world heard by the West.
Yi Luo, Goldsmiths

Jessie Ayles, Goldsmiths University

Zip Zap... A Social Circus (Documentary Film)

Challenging negative associations with Africa, this is a story of South Africa's children, overcoming hardships and building a new culture of peaceful coexistence through the medium of circus arts. For its students and collaborators, Zip Zap circus is more than just a circus, it's a family and a home. This film gives a voice to the youth of South Africa who are breaking down social norms one performance at a time.

Marta Migdalek, Cardiff University

Why Wall? (Radio)

Favela Dona Marta, one of Rio's shanty towns, is like others - colourful, lively, yet dangerous - except that it is encircled by a 3-meter-high wall. Funded by a $20 million government plan to reduce crime levels in favelas, the building of the wall was met by an aggressive reaction from human rights organisations who linked it to a modern-day ghetto. This radio piece investigates the issues surrounding the construction of the wall while presenting its human aspect - the favela itself.

Fany de la Chica, Royal Holloway University of London

Ratita (Documentary Film)

This film centres around the life of Ratita, a girl injured by a landmine in her native Cambodia. She lives in the 'Dove's House', an education and training centre for injured children founded by a Spanish priest. The film follow's Ratita's daily life, as she spends time with friends and family, and helps us learn about the kind of life a disabled girl faces in Cambodia, with its everyday concerns and unusual challenges.

Emma Greaves, Goldsmiths University

The Birds That Flew (Documentary Film)

Alice and Jerusha are two young, beautiful, spirited Kenyan girls. Now over eighteen, they must leave the children's centre in which they have grown up. An exploration of femininity and adolescence, we follow these two young girls as they prepare to make their journeys into independence. A coming of age story in Africa.

Yi Luo, Goldsmiths University

Living Without Men: A Story of Chinese Celibate Women (Documentary Film)

If you only had two options, to submit to an arranged marriage or take a vow of celibacy for the rest of your life, which would you choose? This film tells the story of Chinese women who chose the latter and kept the vow for 80 years with pride and loneliness, but no regret. The 'Celibate Women' of Southern China take pride in their decision to live their lives without men.

Zoe Graham, University College Falmouth

Voices from a Shattered Land (Documentary Film)

How do landmine victims cope with life after an event that has potentially alienated them from their communities and loved ones? What is being done to help them? Are there stories that show hope? This film focusses on landmine victims in Mozambique and how they cope with this life-altering trauma. Landmines are the third leading cause of amputations in Mozambique and continue to pose a threat 18 years after the end of four decades of civil war, which shattered the country's economy and infrastructure.