Hello Goddy,
It’s good to hear from you. The countless problems we encounter with the many things that we have come to rely on for our very existence today are just part of the challenges that we face in our modern World…
It’s great that you were able to find an Internet café 30 minutes away from where you live so that we can continue with our dialogue; this is a great sacrifice that I appreciate.
Whenever I finish researching or shooting a film, I always feel that I have been privileged to get to know the many amazing People who have very limited means. Most often what strikes me is how the People find creative and innovative ways to deal with the complex and often challenging situations that they find themselves in. Most often, it’s the very small steps that the women, in particular, make to first of all acknowledge what they are faced with, and secondly how they are able to act in whichever way they know best to find solutions despite the odds…
I have never stopped thinking about some of the Brave Women footballers that I met in Zanzibar when I was making my documentary film, ZANZIBAR SOCCER QUEENS; or the courageous women and children in SISTERS IN LAW who found clever ways to change their lives despite the knowledge that they could be ostracized or punished by their communities or relatives. Whenever I have been fortunate to be present at the screenings of my films, it’s always tremendously rewarding to see and hear how audiences respond to the very things that motivated me to tell and share the stories of the women in my films.
People or audiences are always curious here and there, and I think that the mass media (here and there), especially TV News, feeds on this aspect. I am not sure if we can ever get away from the not so nice things, or misery that occur in Our World or societies on a daily basis; the media will always be attracted to bad or sad news because of their duty to inform and report. Unfortunately most media, particular TV news, has no time to delve into the complexity or the wider context of the sad & negative stories – it’s just the way we live today.
But the grand hope is that other forms of media and artists will continue to find ways to tell or communicate more than just headlines or the sensational issues so that viewers, readers, etc., can see beyond the headlines and so on.
How do you deal with some of these concerns in your work?
It would be great to speak again ‘before the next Power cut’, rather than after; so I am waiting – I am a ‘Patient Woman’-
greetings.
Florence
Florence
