2007

SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY FILM CAMP, aimed at high school and vocational school students in Serbia wishing to depict their everyday life in film, was held between June 2007 and February 2008.

The CAMP is divided into two segments.

The first two-week segment was held on Tara between July 16th and 28th, 2007. The aim of the workshop was to provide a group of selected high school students with an insight into causes, consequences and scope of social activism, as well as various aspects of creation of social films, and to encourage and support them in developing their own ideas. This complex process is realized via a platform comprised of the following steps:

1)  acquisition of basic knowledge about film as a creative form of expression: scriptwriting, working with camera, sound, film editing; structure and dramaturgy of the film; various techniques of narration; history, characteristics and the role of documentary film in art and development of society with emphasis on social documentary films.

2)  acquisition of basic knowledge about the concept of human rights and the role of social activism in their protection.

The lecturers arrive from various professional environments, reflecting a comprehensive approach and organizers' desire to provide relevant knowledge to workshop's attendees, as well as an immediate and intensive insight into the personal experience of the lecturers in socially involved art forms. The concept of lectures is based on communication between the lecturers and participants, with a special emphasis on motivating participants to identify subjects, analyze relationships between their elements and define various frameworks to creatively process them.

During the first part of the CAMP, the participants attended lectures and practical exercises related to camera work, sound, scriptwriting / dramaturgy, film structure, film editing, documentary film (history and characteristics), with a special emphasis on the history and examples of social film, fundamentals of human rights, as well as meetings with directors and producers of social documentary films from Serbia and ex-Yugoslavia.

During the second part of the CAMP (January 12-19, 2008), the participants worked with mentors on ideas for their scripts. In preparation for pitching before the committee consisting of representatives of reputable production companies, media outlets and prospective donors, the participants had a chance to learn about pitching and practice how to present their ideas to potential financiers. They talked to film professionals from Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the committee, the best synopsis for a script was made by Ivana Vukic from Kragujevac (Goodbye Serbia).