I read. Every day. Stories that make my eyes widen; shock, surprise, disbelief, empathy, compassion, faith in humanity. It influences how I see people, how I investigate stories, and how I like to tell them.
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Full documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydHRESPjBxg
One of my earliest memories of stories that I couldn't get out of my head and then did further study on was at the age of 17 when studying Sociology at A level.
I think what I found so chilling about this story was not being aware of the thousands of cults and sects that exist - all who identify themselves under the branch of Christianity.
Cults: a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object.
Sects: a group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs (typically regarded as heretical) from those of a larger group to which they belong.
So many survivors from this mass murder spoke about their experiences, many of of these experiences which were strange, and didn't even feel like a religion any more. Their memories were so vivid, and it's clear that it's scarred them for life. One woman lost all her children, and partner, because of The People's Temple founder Jim Jones. The bravery and honesty they have in telling these stories to journalists in documentaries, is truly astounding. That's why I love documentaries, so much. It's quite painful and sad to learn about, but it is important to know about. It's said that religion is one of the world's most biggest separators, especially now.
The Cleveland Captives: What Really Happened?
I remember reading this news report in 2013, about these young women who were released after being held captive for 10+ years. Not only was it incredibly ghastly to read let alone learn about, I was so moved by the innocence and lack of world awareness these young women, especially in their interviews.
They were taken by a local neighbour when they were so vulnerable and young, and missed out on so much of life. It's super inspiring to see how much awareness they've raised about abduction and how you can live life after experiencing hell on the little earth they saw. Every interview, article, video - I saw and read them all. So much to the point that I couldn't sleep properly for a few nights. Maybe it affected me especially as a female. It's definitely worth reading about - not just the horror side of it but seeing how each of them learnt to see the light at the end of the rocky bridge. They (and every single person that have been undeservingly abducted) are so, so brave.
Links to stories:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/10/michelle-knight-ariel-castro-how-i-survived
http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/nov/05/ariel-castro-kidnap-survivor-strung-like-fish-video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pco06q0R5gU
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3100986/Cleveland-house-horrors-captives-Amanda-Berry-Gina-DeJesus-realize-dream-high-school-graduation.html
Police seize possessions of rough sleepers in crackdown on homelessness
My first documentary ever was made on this topic and pretty much explains my thoughts and investigations towards the matter. I felt like not a lot of media outlets were discussing or investigating this problem in great depth at the time of the release (January 2014). It's good to see that there is way more awareness now, in 2015, as opposed to last year when only a few newspaper articles spoke about this action of the police. Way more can be done to combat homelessness, so I feel that making this documentary gave these homeless people of London a voice.
Watch Homeless in London documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7rz4Vd9FBE
Death Over The Air Jordan
Another documentary idea of mine - inspired through reading a blog post and learning about the shocking statistics of young black teens killed over trainers in New York City from the 90's. Consumerism is a killer, and it still happens today.
Link to stories:
http://bryantcross.com/2013/12/22/death-over-the-new-air-jordan-gama-blue-11-what-kanye-has-been-saying-all-along/
http://uk.complex.com/sneakers/2015/01/its-time-for-michael-jordan-to-speak-up-against-sneaker-violence
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-shot-dead-in-dayton-ohio-in-alleged-clash-over-nike-air-jordans/
Watch Consumerism: In Love With My Jordans documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvkx_BPtEYM
Farkhunda: The making of a martyr - Newsnight
As I was randomly browsing through some Newsnight clips, I genuinely didn't think I'd come across something so horrific. Unfortunately a lot of us are often desensitized to shocking news stories in Middle Eastern countries of violence against women. A young woman being stoned to death for having pre-marital sex, women in Saudi Arabia not being able to drive their cars, and just general oppression and looking at them as inferior. The story about Farkhunda really shook me; hundreds of people watched her being stoned to death and many video recorded the attack which was immediately shared online.
We as the public needed to see this, see the severity of how extremism is coming, and why it needs to be put an end to. Immediately.
Watch the story of Farkhunda here. WARNING: Graphic and distressing images.
0 comments:
Post a Comment