For detailed information about the project please click here.
Preparation
The preparation phase for this project included team meetings, online workshops, zoom meetings, preparing the film upload platform, designing posters, and researching local organizations for different events in Ethiopia.
Tania and Eve organized online workshops with partner organization DANFE. Marta and Tania continued their planning with the team in Sweden. Irem continued with the design part of the project and planning with the local NGO ELIDA, which was tasked with organizing the kickoff event of the film festival in Ethiopia. Catarina was in charge of the online film platform of the Swedish film festival Midnight Soul and oversaw the uploading of the films until the deadline.
ETHIOPIA
17.09.2023
The ProQvi team arrived in Ethiopia and left Addis Ababa airport at sunrise. When the team arrived at the hotel after the long journey, they went over the weekly program of the film festival. After resting until breakfast, ProQvi team went over the planning with the local partner organization DANFE/EBFDA, which will organize the Creative Workshops within the scope of the See the Girl Film Festival. After the planning, ProQvi team went to a traditional restaurant for dinner in city center. At the restaurant, the team met an Ethiopian family and listened to their story of being a woman in Ethiopia from their perspective. This conversation helped them to gain a different perspective for the trainings they will be conducting for young women later in the week.
18.09.2023
After breakfast, the team met and discussed with the local NGO ELİDA which is the organization that will plan the kickoff event of the See the Girl film festival. After leaving the hotel, the team went to the convent of the Franciscan Sisters Missionaries of Christ who will be hosting the team during their stay in Ethiopia. The team discussed about the plans and budget of the “Girls’ Talent School” activities that ProQvi will be organizing with the sisters. After the meeting, the team went to meet with Girls’ talent school students at a local kindergarten. 24 people participated in the Girls’ Talent School in total. On the first day of the activity, the team organized activities for the participants to get to know each other and to talk about what storytelling is.
19.09.2023
After breakfast, ProQvi team visited the office of the local partner organization DANFE/EBFDA and continued the planning of the Creative Workshops activities. During this visit, the team had the experience of learning first-hand the principles and ways of working of NGOs in Ethiopia. After leaving DANFE office, the activities continued on the second day of the Girls’ Talent School. As on the first day, 24 participants took part in the second day’s activities.
20.09.2023
During school hours, the ProQvi team visited the kindergarten where they organized Girls’ Talent School. The team exchanged experiences with local teachers and played educational and fun games with the children. After the kindergarten was. closed, the team met with local women artisans to explore Ethiopian handicrafts and hear their stories. On the last day of the Girls’ Talent School, the team completed the storytelling training and encouraged participants to put what they had learned into practice by dividing them into groups to work on their own projects. On the last day of the Girls’ Talent School, the team concluded the event with a traditional celebration.
21.09.2023
To continue listening to the stories of local women, the ProQvi team went to Mount Entoto to meet the women who collect firewood every day. They recorded these moments as they listened to the women’s stories. This experience gave them a deeper understanding of the responsibilities of being a woman in Ethiopia, as the team learned about the women’s family dynamics and how they are affected by the country’s economic situation. After their Mount Entoto interview, they set off for the kickoff event of the film festival and tango night organized by ELİDA. After introducing the activities done in Ethiopia, they talked about the film competition. Following the introduction, they talked about gender balances through tango and movements. After the tango night, participants were given time to meet each other. During this time, the team talked to the female participants and asked questions about different women’s experiences in Ethiopia.
22.09.2023
It was the first day of the Creative Workshop trainings we organized with our local project partner DANFE/EBFDA. We met the new participants and introduced them to the film festival. As in Girls’ Talent School, we organized workshops and activities on how to tell a story. After the end of the Creative Workshop, we met and practiced filmmaking with the Girls’ Talent School participants who wanted to participate in the film competition. The team helped the girls to shoot and edit their first short film and individual contestant films.
23.09.2023
As the team continued the storytelling training on the second day of the Creative Workshop, each of the experienced participant girls from Girs’ Talent School shared their experiences and knowledge about what they had learned about storytelling with the new participants. Afterwards, groups were formed among the participants, and each was given the task of designing a storyboard. The groups which designed their storyboards presented their boards to the other groups. This experience increased sharing among women and taught young girls that there is no age limit to become a trainer. At the end of the Creative workshop day, the team met with a local journalist and made a presentation about the See the Girl film festival. The team also talked to the journalist about the experiences of the women they heard in Ethiopia and about gender equality.
24.09.2023
On the last day of the creative workshop, participants were divided into groups to apply what they had learned in the storytelling training. Within each separate group, they presented their final projects to collectively collect and tell their individual stories. After the participants completed their final projects, they attended a preview screening of the See the Girl Film Festival competition films with guests. Before the pre-screening of the films, note sheets were distributed to the audience to comment and rate the films they watched. These were then collected by the ProQvi team and evaluated during the voting to select the winners.
25.09.2023
The ProQvi team met with a local group of visually impaired people, arranged through the local project partner DANFE/EBFDA. Creative activities were done together with the participants. During this time, the local group of visually impaired people shared their experiences about being a person with disabilities in Ethiopia and the challenges of being a person with disabilities. Afterwards, a skit written by the local theater artists was staged in the art center. The ProQvi team, together with the audience, watched and interpreted the skit on “The experiences of a young woman being harassed in Ethiopia” prepared by local artists. After the staged skit, a workshop was organized with improvisational theater method where the audience took the place of the main characters in certain scenes of the skit. This experience informed the team about how different people and different genders can evaluate and react to this situation. The project team ended the day by introducing the film festival and its events to the participants.
26.09.2023
The ProQvi team met the new Creative Workshop of university students and continued their storytelling training. While listening to the stories of young Ethiopian women, the team had the chance to learn about women’s right to education and inequality of opportunity in Ethiopia. The young women also shared their experiences about the expectations of a family from young girls and the household chores they should learn. After the creative workshop, we organized a round table with artists, former politicians and local NGO workers invited by our local project partner DANFE/EBFDA. The roundtable discussed gender inequality in Ethiopia and the challenges faced by women in Ethiopia.
27.09.2023
On the last day of the creative workshop with university students, the team gave a training on the position of light and shadow in video shootings. The participants were also introduced to the See the Girl film festival and talked about the film competition. After the completion of the activities, the participants started editing their individual films to apply for the film competition.
28.09.2023
September 28 was a national religious holiday, so the ProQvi team spent the day taking part in celebrations organized by the Franciscan Sisters Missionaries of Christ.
29.09.2023
On September 29th, the ProQvi team traveled to Mount Entoto in Addis Ababa to do creative activities and hiking with the participants.
30.09.2023
The Closing Ceremony of the See the Girl Film festival was held at Soramba hotel. The closing event included workshop participants and guests. In the closing presentation we talked about what we did during the film festival. The artworks created during the festival were exhibited in the hall. After the closing presentation, the films participating in the competition were screened. After the screening, the winning participant certificates were given and the list of winning films and directors was announced. After the ceremony, the participants and guests celebrated with a buffet dinner at the restaurant where traditional Ethiopian dances were performed.
01.10.2023
Departure from Ethiopia
Thank you for your interest in “See the Girl” Film Festival in Ethiopia. For more information about the continuation of “See the Girl” Film Festival in Sweden, please click here.