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Dream Project Adopts Transmedia Strategy

-MfC Staff Writer

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping through the United States and the world, Media for Change launched the Dream Project by asking people to submit short videos via the Gather Voices app. In the selfie style videos, people from near and far shared their dreams for a post-COVID 19 world.

Based on the idea that it is necessary to visualize the world before seeking to make a difference, this work has continued and in 2021 Media for Change launched the podcast Where Dreams Come From. The podcast features deep conversations with people around the world who credit their dreams as drivers for personal success in life. Planned as a multilingual series, the podcast is now releasing episodes for season 1 in English. Episodes in German are expected for release soon, with other languages to follow.

Media for Change founder Sanjeev Chatterjee, inspired by a positive change one of his former students was making in life, traveled to meet up with him in Hawaii. Chatterjee first met Tvrtko Vujity (pronounced: taVartko Vooich) as a graduate student in the journalism program at the School of Communication, University of Miami in the mid 1990s where Chatterjee is a professor. Since then, Tvrtko has been chasing his childhood dream of becoming a journalist. He was studying journalism at the University of Miami on a Voice of America scholarship after winning the Pulitzer Memorial Medal (not to be confused with the American Pulitzer Prize) for his reporting of the Yugoslav War. Although Tvrtko never took a class with Chatterjee, they became close as Chatterjee was making a documentary film From the Shadow of History about peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia at that time.

After returning home to his native Hungary from Miami, Tvrtko went on to become a celebrated journalist not only in his country but also in neighboring Slavic language regions including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and other countries. His primetime TV show Napló (diaries) became widely recognized. He brought back the last Hungarian POW of WWII who was languishing in a mental asylum in remote Tartarstan, he snuck into North Korea as an aid worker, he reported on the genocide in Rwanda, he reported from the nuclear disaster site at Chernobyl – there are endless stories over a period spanning more than 2 decades.

“I was eager to meet Tvrtko after all these years because he was making a big change in his life’s trajectory. He told me he had been telling the stories of hell on earth, but now he wanted to discover paradise” said Chatterjee. Apart from his television show, Tvrtko has written 13 books titled Pokoli Történtek (Stories from Hell). His very successful public talk series Tvrtko Across Borders addresses his learnings from his work. However, after revisiting Chernobyl in 2019, Tvrtko experienced a reckoning. He no longer wanted to relate stories from hell. A combination of intent and circumstances led to Tvrtko moving to Hawaii with his family. He says he is living the aloha life. Still seeking to fulfill a dream in this life.

For Chatterjee, the turn in Tvrtko’s intentions is just a plot twist in the story. “This is potentially a story about reinvention, an evolution in the story of Tvrtko’s dream of becoming a journalist. This could be a great story” said Chatterjee. Media for Change is now in preproduction of a documentary project about Tvrtko’s journey thus far and into the future.

The term transmedia was coined by Henry Jenkins who currently serves as the Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Communication at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. The term is used as an adjective to define a certain kind of journalism, filmmaking, game design, storytelling…that uses multiple platforms to reach diverse audiences through diverse stories to convey the same message. In this case, the message is about the importance of dreaming about and visualizing a world we want to live and thrive in.

Media for Change Signs MOU With One Water Academy

• MfC Staff Writer

On the occasion of Earth Day, March 24, 2021, Media for Change signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the One Water Academy. Furthering its mission to support non-profit organizations with their communication needs through education, mentoring and technical knowhow, Media for Change will work closely with One Water Academy to create the One Water One World (OWOW) talk series to highlight innovation, enterprise and education aimed at solving the world’s water crisis.

 The One Water Academy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, “…aims to provide easily accessible, user-friendly, and continuous skill-based learning through collaboration, knowledge exchange, and networking. It was created to bridge the learning and innovation gap to fully prepare the OneWater workforce.”

 Media for Change’s goal to use storytelling to bridge global divides fits well with the purpose of this collaboration. Additionally, the project has a personal appeal for Media for Change founder Sanjeev Chatterjee. “It has been over a decade since we made the feature documentary One Water about our changing relationship to freshwater on the planet. This collaboration is a great opportunity to continue taking that work further,” said Chatterjee. 

 Hardeep Anand, a professional engineer, civil servant, and the founder and director of OneWater Academy, said, “Since starting OneWater Academy in 2018, we’ve been focusing on creating a stronger, more resilient future for the water sector. Through our partnership with Media for Change on OWOW Talks, we’re ready to highlight an essential dialog that, frankly, is already happening. But through this dynamic platform, we will shine a light on those conversations to let everyone know that they have a seat at the table when it comes to the future of water.” Anand added, “After all, solutions to the water sector’s needs can come from anywhere, so all ideas must have a chance to be shared and heard.”

With a career over three decades in the water sector steeped in research and implementation at organizations such as the Water Research Foundation (formerly Water Environment Research Foundation), Dr. Amit Pramanik, who is now the executive director of One Water Academy, is enthusiastic about prospects for the OWOW talks. “This is an excellent way for us to connect cutting-edge knowledge to the entrepreneurial spirit in the U.S. and beyond, while capturing and sharing knowledge for the water community” he said.

Planned as a hybrid, in-person and online series, preparing for the OWOW series has already begun. The event is slated for the last quarter of 2021. “Our expectation is for the COVID-related in-person event restrictions to have eased at least a little and will allow us to have a small live audience for the livestream event,” said Gonzalo Mejia, who serves as Media for Change’s director of administration. This inaugural series will draw from individuals from industry, government, education and community members in the South Florida region in 2021. The plan is to spread the reach globally in increments.

New Old Eats

After considerable background work, Media for Change is ready to launch New Old Eats – a podcast exploring the new avatars of old foods in the Americas and elsewhere in the world. The project, lead by Media for Change board member Nina Mukerjee Furstenau, aims to promote “kitchen diplomacy” by bringing to light the diverse influences that inform what we eat today. “Recognition of the special histories that help make up our  culinary and agricultural story is cause for celebration–as well as a satisfying way to acknowledge the inherent diversity around us,” Furstenau says. “New Old Eats reveals migration of flavors and people, and how our resulting palate sweeps the history of the world.” 

The project will launch in 2021 with a pair of podcasts titled New Old Eats. The English version will feature Nina’s research and conversations with culinary experts. The Spanish version, Nuevo Viejo Comer, will be hosted by Chilean journalist and a recent graduate in science journalism from the Columbia Journalism School, Muriel Alarcon Luco. While the two language versions will be topically parallel, they will be adapted by each host into their respective voices for their own audiences. 

“Since the pandemic has not allowed us to travel in-person to other places, a trip today is possible through food,” says Muriel Alarcon Luco, who received mentorship from the Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting in 2020 to work on a story about how Latino organizations are promoting healthy eating habits across New York City’s Latino neighborhoods, to help build up immune systems amongst a population hit disproportionately by COVID-19. “Many scientific studies say that consuming processed foods can increase the risk of diseases that make us more vulnerable to the threat of the virus. An invitation to travel on a path to our ancestors to revisit what they ate is also way to learn from their wisdom to stay healthy in times of illness.”

“In a polarized world, conversations about what is shared among people, rather than their differences is sorely lacking. New Old Eats proposes to introduce just such a conversation to the public sphere,” says Media for Change founder Sanjeev Chatterjee, who plans to contribute short films to the project as it develops. 

The audio podcast format is ideal for the launch due to the convenience of producing polished content even during COVID 19 restrictions. With time, the plan is to create documentary films, publish articles and books and build a robust social media reach. At this point, follow @newoldeats on Instagram to support the project and updates. 

From Understanding to Action

Media for Change Affiliate Paridrishya Aims to Raise Public Engagement in Watershed Conservation in Himalayan Villages

By Sanjeev Chatterjee

Our readers may recall that in 2020 Media for Change’s incubation efforts resulted in the creation of the Indian non-profit organization Paridrishya. Paridrishya is led by Media for Change board member Mohit Gulati and the nascent organization attracted funding from one of India’s leading developmental organizations – the Tata Trusts.

Titled the Samajhdar Jal Sevak (knowledgable keeper of the waters), the project aims to bring about social and behavioral change through communication (SBCC) in villages in the Western Himalayas in India. Intial findings indicate that while villagers are aware of the fragility of their springsheds, they would benefit from the creation of conservation strategies and stakeholder action plans. In other words the challenge is to move villagers from understanding into action. Paridrishya will use media and storytelling strategies towards reaching this goal.

In a recent conversation, Mohit Gulati said “Perception of water as a resource or the lack thereof governs consumption habits of communities. The Samajhdar Jal Sevak project is allowing us to look at a very old problem from a different vantage point.”

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 related travel restrictions and differences of perception of the problem of springshed management from village-to-village, Paridrishya was able to adhere to the project timeline and the formational study was accepted and the project is well underway.

Based on the initial study, Paridrishya plans to expand the work to the hill and mountain communities of India’s Northeastern states in the near future. Media for Change continues to serve Paridrishya in an advisory capacity.

Peace Building for the Future

Media for Change’s Alice Ackermann brings a rich background in international relations and conflict mediation

by Isabella Vaccaro

After its premiere in 1998, their documentary, “From the Shadow of History” went on to win numerous accolades and was aired on PBS and the History Channel. Ackermann’s book on the same topic was published in 1999. And though the project fostered a friendship between Ackermann and Chatterjee, after a few years at the U, Ackermann moved to England and then Austria, where she served for ten years at the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), eventually working her way up to a role as Senior Operational Advisor for the prevention of conflict through mediation. In 2017, after her ten-year term limit was up, Ackermann went to the United Nations (UN) in Mogadishu, Somalia and served as the advisor to the Secretary General for two years, advising the Somalian government on national reconciliation strategies.

Now Ackermann is back in Berlin, but she says, by working with Chatterjee and the Media for Change team, it almost feels like she is back in Miami. Ackermann says she has always been interested in fundraising, and that is exactly what she will do as Director of Development.

“I’m there to research and write proposals to get funding for the various angles of research that we all have,” said Ackermann. “And we’re all coming together under the major heading of equity, diversity, and communication and the importance of communication in global affairs.”

For Ackermann,  one of the key issues Media for Change is engaged in is to combat the problem of disinformation and misinformation in today’s media. And while she is working to secure opportunities for the whole MfC team, Ackermann hopes to use her background in international politics to help further push this initiative, as well as related issues, like that of conflict sensitive journalism.

“Journalists can be preventive agents, but they can also be agents that cause conflict by the way they report, particularly with regard to communal conflicts and communal violence,” Ackermann said.

Ackermann says she is intrigued by some of the work other MfC board members are doing, including Nina Furstenau’s work on food history and Chatterjee’s efforts in solving global health issues. But, perhaps one of the most pertinent issues Ackermann wishes to look at is diversity and examining and respecting the various cultures that make up immigrant countries like the United States.

“I think that Media for Change is on the right track by looking at the pluralism of the American society and the diversity in that society, and what also different groups have brought in,” Ackermann said.

All of Ackerman’s work, not only with Media for Change, but throughout her career in international relations, has led her to an overarching goal of peace building. Whether it is bringing communities, political groups or even countries together through dialogue and reconciliation, Ackermann explains, peace building goes hand in hand with communication and responsible reporting in journalism.

“But most of all peacebuilding—if I want to go back to Media for Change and what we do—also involves that you have investigative journalism, conflict-sensitive journalism, you have trained journalists, and you make sure that you somehow prevent misinformation from happening,” Ackermann said.

Ackermann says  that her present interest is looking at peace building through the lens of pandemics, climate change and how these issues affect fragile countries, because at the end of the day, Ackermann notes, “we are all working towards having peaceful, non-divided societies and communities.”

Empath Warrior

The Evolution of Abhishek Verma as an Artist-Interventionist

by Sanjeev Chatterjee

This article is based on the writer’s association with the National Award-winning (India) animator Abhishek Verma since his time at the Young India Fellowship in 2017 and on a more recent interview conducted for the purposes of this article.

teachers would allow them into classes for very little – say a marker or even a samosa and cup of tea. A token. Although a good student, looking back Verma recalls that his priorities were never focused on the engineering degreehis extended family expected him to complete. Even while he was in high school, the cinema bug had bitten him in a novel way. Having no cash to inculcate a movie going habit, Abhishek became an ardent radio addict. The Indian government’s national broadcast service Doordarshan would broadcast entire soundtracks of movies on weekends. Not only did this obsession introduce Abhishek to the stories of then faraway Bollywood and the stars, but he also got to know the names of people behind the scenes – directors, lyricists, composers… Occasionally, there would names like writer/director Raj Kumar Gupta from his very own Hazaribagh and actress/model Tanushree Dutta who were from nearby Jamshedpur and had made it to Bollywood. By the time Abhishek was in Ranchi he had reasons to believe he could make it too.

A milestone in Ranchi, for Abhishek, was his introduction to the movie theater. As be remembers it, it was easy to divert what little funds he had for tuition towards the 7 rupee (approximately a US dime by today’s conversion) ticket. He clearly recalls the thrill of watching the Ashutosh Gowariker directed Swades (2004) starring Shah Rukh Khan. At that point he admits he stopped going to tuitions.

Broadening Horizons

Although his Hindi teacher mother had introduced him well to the doyens of Hindi literature such as Premchand, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and others who wrote about oppression and exploitation of the powerless, those stories and poems remained bookish to him. They were not lived experiences. Later, a senior in college suggested he watch Vishal Bharadwaj’s  adaption of Othello – Omkara (2003). This film became a curiosity. Never having read any Shakespeare, he attempted to read Othello to little avail. Realizing his English proficiency was nowhere close to competent, he began a routine to address the deficiency. He picked up the English newspaper from the hostel warden’s office every morning and began reading. He would mark all the words he did not understand and then consult a dictionary. This is how, step by methodical step, he learned to be proficient in English.

Honoring family expectations remained important however and he cleared the engineering entrance exams and in 2012 moved away to Tumkur, an industrial town outside Bangalore in South India. It was as if a whole new horizon opened up. Abhishek credits the introduction to Korean directors Wong Kar-wai and Kim Ki-duk at this time as transformative for his imagination. An introduction to “what is possible.” And if there is a particular point of transitioning from perceiving cinema as pure entertainment to purposeful filmmaking, it was probably after watching Mariana Rondon’s 2013 classic Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) – a film that confronts racism and sexism in Venezuela head on.

Fear and Fearlessness

The educational loan his father had taken out to pay for Abhishek’s engineering education was weighing very heavily on the family. The anxiety and fear around the inability to pay back the loan was crippling in many ways, he recalls. More than the money, the anxiety and fear severely stifled his creativity. This was the reason he did not apply to the relatively expensive National Institute of Design and instead got a full ride to attend the acclaimed Industrial Design Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Apart from leaving the burden of financial debt behind, two milestone events helped Verma climb out of fear into creative freedom. His cohort was made up of peers who came from top art institutes in India. Compared to them his drawing skills were, according to him, minimal. However, their teacher Shilpa Ranade  was insistent that others pay attention to Abhishek’s work. She told him that drawings are like an individual’s handwriting and trying to copy others would destroy creativity. This helped greatly in finding confidence in himself and the work he was doing. In the other incident, he was waiting to speak to the legendary Shyam Benegal who was visiting. Benegal was talking to some people and eating ice cream. The ice cream just would not finish – it seemed an interminable length of time before Benegal’s secretary pointed out the young man waiting to speak to him. Verma was given 15 minutes to talk about whatever he wanted. He asked the filmmaker about making Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008). The story of a man who is forced to write letters for illiterate villagers to make a living. Benegal told Abhishek that the main character was not a figment of his imagination. There was actually a young man who worked in Benegal’s office who wrote letters people in his own village. When Verma asked for advice about what he should be doing Benegal advised him include what was happening around him in whatever he chose to do. If he did not do that his work would lose all purpose. This really spoke to Verma. As he puts it “…yes, I can make a Tarantino type thriller and include things happening around me,”

Animator-Filmmaker

The first film that Abhishek released was Chasni (2014) a hand-drawn 2-D animation film with spoken word poetry, based on the story of an acid attack victim Lakshmi who filed a petition with India’s supreme court to ban sale of acid to people without identification. Laxmi’s story is retold in the 2020 Meghna Gulzar directed Chhapak starring Deepika Padukone and Vikrant Massey. Verma’s  film came at a time where India faced with the 2012 brutal rape and murder of Nirbhaya in Delhi (a story memorialized in 2019  by Delhi Crime on Netflix) and the publication of the end of life hand written notes by Preeti Rathi in Bombay who succumbed to the burns from an acid attack by a former neighbor in 2013.

Abhishek’s next film was occasioned by a close friend coming out to him as being gay. The incident hit Verma hard because none of the stereotypes associated to the depiction of gay people in the media applied to this 6-foot male who had been in the closer for over 20 years. This was the genesis of Maacher Jhol (2017) the story of a young man who lovingly prepares fish curry for his father and comes out as gay during the meal. Apart from the film winning awards internationally including India’s National Award and a City of Annecy Award, the 12-minute film is used widely as a resource for counseling parents of LGBTQ children. The film is now also part of film and animation curricula internationally. Many peers have borrowed the film as a tool to come out of the closet to family and friends. Personally, the most significant impact of Macher Jhol was, however, at home, Abhishek says. When he first shared the idea for the new film with his parents back in Hazaribagh they were shocked. Maybe even concerned that their son was trying to telegraph a message through his work. “I had to teach them everything” he said. After the film was out a friend was visiting and while his teacher mother was serving tea and snacks he asked Abhishek if there was a treatment or a doctor one could visit to cure homosexuality. Late that day, Abhishek’s mother asked him never to invite the friend home again. She was deeply disappointed by the fact that the young man, who was well educated, knew so little. To Verma, this change in the outlook of his ageing  parents was high impact indeed.

Friends and strangers alike are curious to know if Abhiskek was driven to making Macher Jhol based on his experiences as a gay man. He says “I did not have to be an acid attack survivor to make a film about acid attacks. It does not work like that.” In filmmaking, Verma explains, the director tells the actors to live the emotions of characters, but the animator must live the emotions in order to bring them alive on screen. “You cannot draw the right expressions without acting them out yourself.”

The Present

Verma’s next film Luka Chhupi about the impact of open defecation on the lives of girls and women in India in funded by the Government of India. The film is complete and in the festival circuit but remains unreleased awaiting to completion of formalities.

In the meanwhile, Verma has returned to Bombay and under the banner of his News and Animation studio The Matchbox.Co he and his partners are working on future projects including an animation series on the Indo-Chinese War for Discovery Networks.

Abhishek has two animation projects in development that we look forward to; Kitchen that looks at the central role of women in Indian households and a virtual reality film on the burning issue of manual scavenging in India titled The Manhole.

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