Stories of Histories
In between histories and stories of men and women, histories were built and stories are made. From ancient times to future standards, men and women have left their marks and set their impressions. History is alive while stories carry on its legacy. My story, your history.
Duties of An Internet Citizen
Four months ago, when I was invited to participate at eSTAS (Symposium on Technologies for Social Action) hosted by Fundacion Cibervoluntarios in Malaga, I felt dubious about how I was going to approach the subject of change within a technological context. The topic of this year’s edition was “Innovation for citizen empowerment through new technologies” – quite a powerful statement. Should I input my own personal experience or focus on those that I encountered through the project? Should I talk about my filming experience or how others reacted upon seeing the technology for the first time? Despite the questions, I was certain I wanted to participate.
The event united several minds working on different fronts, including Lina Ben Mhenni, winner of the BOBs award for Best Blog in 2011, in which she denounces injustice and government censhorship in Tunisia; Judith Torrea, winner of the Reporters Without Borders at the BOBs award 2011 for her blog “Juarez en La Sombra,” revealing drug related crimes in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; and Chris Moya, founder of Spainrevolution.com, a free online platform for citizens to discuss the social and political 15M movement, which started amidst the current financial crisis in Spain. Differently from most of these speakers though, I came from a film and media background. I am not an activist. But since technology doesn’t limit itself to the Internet, the information acquired through People of Change became relevant within the context of change.
The 25-Kilometer Change
Text published on “Innovacion Para El Empoderamiento Ciudadano Atraves de las TIC” http://www.empodera.org/pdf/libro.pdf
In an effort to document the work of non-governmental organizations dedicated to humanitarian, social and environmental causes, I recently traveled through sixteen different countries during a period of eight months. From South America to Europe, Africa to Asia, the constant cultural and economical changes faced along the journey determined the always evolving content of the independent and volunteer project, properly titled People of Change.
The core mission of People of Change regards the creation of short-documentaries for selected organizations, which ultimately strive for the betterment of their communities through positive changes; and have yet to obtain a global voice and recognition. In such connected modern world, online media plays a determining role in the diffusion of these efforts. The viral distribution of the videos permits increased visibility – essential to the survival of any nonprofit struggle since it brings funding, volunteers and eventual growth. People of Change focuses on the constructive use of new technologies to propagate and inspire other people to advocate similar work. Newspapers, magazines and television are often filled with pessimistic ideas of our current global situation. The reasons behind this thrust were indeed rooted in our current perception of the world; or rather, our current perception of the world constructed by mainstream media. We need inspiration, and not desolation.
Switching Gears: From NGOs to Refugees
Following a series of fortunate events, future grounds must be laid out. Although there is one remaining People of Change video to be finalized – as well as an overall intention to continue the project’s legacy – other opportunities have been presented; and with it, the consequence of choices.
Through People of Change, I have found my voice as a filmmaker and most importantly, as a documentarian. The passion to present reality in full impartiality while hopefully achieving change along the process has brought me closer to another global issue: worldwide refugees.
Refugee Diaries [working title] is a feature length documentary, depicting the actual scenario of global human dislocation, chiefly refugees, either due to religious, racial, economical, political, environmental reasons, or because of sexual orientation and civil wars, among others, through the intertwining of various true and intimate stories; stories of comings and goings in the search for survival, which currently cover the six inhabited continents of the world. Besides myself acting as a producer, Oscar-nominated Hank Levine (producer of City of God and Waste Land) and Fernando Meirelles (director of City of God, Blindness and The Constant Gardner) are also working on the project.
People of Change – Rotary Club Orta San Giulio
Short-documentary about the community of Masango, located in Burundi (Central Africa), and how the Italian Rotary Club Orta San Giulio has helped to improve basic infrastructure and health conditions in the community through investments on locally based projects.
People of Change – Rotary Club Orta San Giulio from Fernando Sapelli on Vimeo.
Video Premiere
The Rotary Club Orta San Giulio is hosting a fundraising event this coming Saturday (June, 11th) for their projects in Masango, Burundi. During the event, they will also be premiering the “People of Change – Rotary Orta San Giulio” documentary, which will be posted on the website early next week. The event will also have live African music, traditional Burundian food and insights about the local culture. If you happen to be in Northern Italy, here’s the suggestion.
Traveling around the world, documenting the work of NGOs (and individuals) committed to the betterment of humanity - as well as personal anecdotes. 
