Unlocking the Gifts of energy

I recently had the privilege of working with Project 90 by 2030 again. I have worked with this 'change-focused' organisation in the past on a number of projects, including some of Cosmos Production's theatre and short video highlights. They are a team of dedicated, loving people who really believe in inspiring people and bringing about significant positive change in the way we all engage with earth systems, and each other. This mission is already an inspiration for me...

 

In the last few years, I know they have been making changes in communities all over South Africa relating to energy efficiency, renewable energy and generally finding innovative ways to support and help the vulnerable. The project I worked on with them last month, a short film about one of their projects in the Community Partnership Programme was about exactly that - supporting the vulnerable.

Unlocking the Gifts was filmed at the Sibongile Day and Night Care Centre - a care facility in Khayelitsha for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. The aim of the partnership with Project 90 was to improve energy efficiency, improve access to energy and reduce the costs at this Care Centre, to enhance the lives of these children. It was humbling to film at the daycare centre and night homes, where the carers give with so much love and patience to the children - EVERY DAY. I was moved by their commitment, and also moved by the children, who although we could not often communicate, I sensed their generosity, playfulness, and joy.

 

Click here to watch the video.

Lulama Dlodlwana, the house manager at one of the Day/night homes, who shared herself so openly.

 

WESSA and Environmental leadership

WESSA and Environmental Leadership

We recently worked with the WESSA Western Cape office to produce a short film about a year-long programme they ran for young environmental leaders. The Wildlife  and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) have a mission to implement high impact environmental and conservation projects which promote public participation in caring for the Earth. 

The film which Cosmos directed and produced, Stepping up to Environmental Leadership is a simple overview of the programme through insights and comments from some of the participants.

As the filmmaker and someone interested in what LEADERSHIP means, I found it interesting that the programme gave the young participants full ownership of the course.  They had to decide what they wanted to learn, where they wanted to go on site visits, who they wanted to meet, and how they wanted to run it! It was a year long course with meetings and gatherings every month. So in every sense of the word, to take on the leadership of it... To be a leader means to lead on all levels.

Stop-motion films with kids!

Cosmos will again be working with Elemental Kids on their winter school holiday programme, from 24 to 28 June 2013. This year during the abundant rains of winter children will have an opportunity to create a stop motion animation film about, with and next to water. They will create the story, develop the characters, the set, film it and add sound. In the process children will be able to explore different roles in the film making process - story writing, directing, acting, set making and sound engineering. 

Cosmos will record sound effects that the children make theselves for their characters, and edit the film to a finished product, which they can watch at the end of the holiday programme. The screening is an exciting affair with popcorn all round!

  The holiday programme will be based at the Imperial Yacht Club on the banks of the vlei, and children will go out on the water with a variety of different boats during the week, have access to an endlessly entertaining Art Space and enjoy the beautiful outdoors with access to a cosy fire place in the club for the rainy winter days.  

To see the stop motion film from their FIRE holiday programme last year, watch it here: FIRE film. This was created by children aged 6 to 12 years.

Fish and more fish... new work for Cosmos

Cosmos Productions will soon be starting some work with Cooked in Africa - a busy, exciting production company in Cape Town!Jacqueline will be editing some episodes of a reality tv series called Moving Sushi, about a South African couple that head out on a 2 year, 42 country expedition across East and West Africa, Europe and Asia. Their mission was to go and discover people and projects from around the globe that were making a difference in marine conservation despite the desperate situation the marine world is in. It's an exciting and important project as it puts the global condition of our oceans out there for everyone to see. And our oceans and the fish and marine life that live in it, are in a serious and vulnerable state, all over the world.

Its also a similar project to what Cosmos currently has in development about our trip to Madagascar a few years ago. While filming for Nosy Mena in 2009 we captured a lot of the journey and behind the scenes experience of our trip, which we are planning to make into a travel/cultural/environmental documentary. We discovered so much about ourselves and the issues threatening the biodiversity of Madagascar, that we feel there is a great story to be told there. Watch this space...

In the meantime, go check out more information on Moving Sushi here 

Cosmos Productions will be working with Elemental Kids  on their winter Holiday programme from 9 to 13 July 2012.



Elemental Kids create week long experiential, stimulating and fun programmes built around natural element themes. Each week we focus on one element. Children explore the elements through the arts, outdoor activities and play. The programmes are structured so children can choose to participate for the entire week or for a day at a time.


 In the winter programme, the children will be learning how to create a stop frame animation film which focuses on the illumination of fire! Children will work in groups on this collaborative project, developing their own stories, creating the props for the film sets from recycled materials and shooting their own footage. They will get to be story writers, prop makers, camera people, directors and puppetmakers. Cosmos will guide them in this process...

The Girl Effect

A simple, but powerful video that describes a simple but life changing way of thinking in our world. Social change needs women to be able to participate in their society.

Watch it.

This fits so closely with the work I did in 2009 with the international NGO, Gender CC, who aim is to integrate gender justice into climate change policies and local and international levels.

Trailer for our Madagascar documentary: Nosy Mena

This is a short trailer video of Nosy Mena: Voices from the Red Island. We're planning some screenings soon in Cape Town and other festivals relating to climate change at COP17.

Watch this space!

Jacqueline