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The Learning Circle

Participatory filmmakers and trainers, Dominique Chadwick and Abibata Mahama, have led the Learning Circle initiative in the Northern Region of Ghana. They have devised a  process that trains every participant in skills including story-boarding, camera work, interview techniques and sound recording. An intense two-week training begins a process that culminates in film screenings for local communities that show-case the Learning Circle's achievements.

Many of the Learning Circle participants have never been to school. Others have suffered discrimination because of disabilities. The camera gives them a new form of literacy, dismantling the wall of silence they have lived behind.

Films are edited and produced on location. For the first time, rural communities see themselves on screen and this reflects back a vision of their lives. This unique experience draws huge audiences of up to 2000 people and inspires discussion that continues to resonate as the group produces new films. A phone-in on Radio Savannah extends the dialogue on contentious issues that tend to remain hidden.

23 members of the Learning Circle in Ghana have produced six films:

  • The Broken Promise describes the experiences of a girl sent to her aunt as a foster daughter and her new and harsh life as a child domestic worker.
  • Wahala (which translates from Dagbani as 'Suffering') explores women's expeiences of poverty and violence in their highly patriarchal society.
  • Azarra is the true story of a girl with severe physical disabilities and how her life has been transformed by access to education and healthcare.
  • Fara Yeligola (which translates from Dagbani as 'Guide Children')
  • Crying Shame
  • Boliyoli

Watch a selection of films from the Learning Circle Project in Ghana.

 

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