The inspiration for my subject matter was a recent visit as a World Vision volunteer to a community development project in Bangladesh.
I began planning the piece with an idea - not quite a story. As I combed through relevant videos and photos I felt inspired by a group of women who had gone from living in extreme poverty with little hope for change to holding a community meeting of small business owners. An Islamic expression, “A woman’s heaven is under the foot of her husband,” lends a context about why this life change is so important.
I encountered 2 types of challenges: content selection and technical. I filmed the events primarily to capture information so finding material that could contribute to the story took time. All the women are ‘near and dear’ to me so it was also a challenge to decide which ones to leave out. My PC ‘crapped out’ so bought an IMac and the technical switch was frustrating.
I love stories! My ambition as a documentary maker is to tell interesting and entertaining stories that explore strength and frailty of the human spirit. They should engage people and encourage social responsibility for our global community.
