10 Best Video Camera For Low Light Shooting

Best Video Camera For Low Light Shooting in 2023

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The Forgotten Population

After almost two days straight traveling across the world, a small group of talented young filmmakers stepped off a bus half way up mount Kilimanjiro, Tanzania, with a couple of video cameras in hand, and a moral mission to achieve.

Before touching down for two months in the Rombo district, Josh­ua Ballinger, Ryan Roco, Keri Oberly, Breezy and Megan Erickson had been running a non-profit organiza­tion called Getting Word Out. Tar­geting their efforts to raise aware­ness about areas of social injustice and global concern, the team turned their attention to HIV/AIDS in Africa in an attempt expose what is it like to live as a sufferer. Taking their project 6,000 feet up Mount Kilimanjiro into the rural jungle vil­lages that span the steep hillside, they set to work on a documentary entitled Wazi. As co-director/director of photog­raphy Ryan Roco explains, "we believe people living with HIV/AIDS are stigmatised all over the world and want to show through our film the strengths and struggles of those that live their lives despite the daily discrimination they face." Focusing their film on a handful of individuals, the idea for Wazi was born during a previous trip to the area. Serving in the Peace Corps for three years, and stationed in Tanzania, Megan Erickson had experienced the pain of a sufferer first hand when Keri Oberly visited to help out. Overcome by the power­ful story of one woman in particular, Mama Oska, who since became the main character in the film, upon Keri's return, she and the rest of the team knew their next project lay in waiting. Being a fluent speaker of Swahili as well as the local tribal language Chagga, Megan sorted most of the local logistics, and in unison with Keri, organized travel details and subjects for the film. The filmmakers organized a place to stay for the two months, renting the side house of a German doctor close to Mama Oska's town.

With the need to spend almost all time filming with the suffering fami­lies, beyond the obvious language barriers, the toughest part of the trip for Ryan lay in becoming emo­tionally attached to their subjects. "To focus on the film is to spend as much time with the families as pos­sible and spending that much time simply, for us, results in us caring about their well being despite all journalistic reasons telling us to be detached", he reveals, but with no guarantee the filmmakers will be able to make a difference to the lives of their subjects, Wazi brought with it their own emotional turmoil.

Ryan continues, "to look into the eyes of a mother telling me her greatest fear is to leave behind her child with HIV, knowing she brought him into a world like this, and will one day be unable to make sure he lives on strong, smart or even at all, was heartbreaking." Investing not only their own time and money but love, care and attention comes over strongly in the film to produce a wholly honest and heartfelt documentary. Wazi succeeds in the group's goal to raise awareness of a big social problem, and while proving hugely effective, in terms of the lasting objectives, its success will be deemed by the number of eyes Getting Word Out can get the film in front of.

Hoping to market the film towards whatever will bring the largest viewing audience, changing how people look at those suffering from HIV, the team are currently planning on touring film festivals across Ameri­ca and then overseas to raise awareness of their project and secure that all important distribution deal. Given the quality of the film, and the issues Wazi raises, It is only a matter of time before interest starts rolling in and Wazi starts to make the difference Mama Oska et al dessert.