JOURNEY OF INSPIRATION
In a series of short intimate interviews, host and co-founder of Picture People, Nick Danziger, will bring us the achievements, stories and struggles of how inspiring professionals from around the world are pursuing their careers while hoping to make a difference to the world we live in. Many are using visual media, technology, and the creative arts to effectively expose social and environmental abuses, alter perceptions and behaviours and affect change.
Held once a month, we will hear from a range of guests - filmmakers, entrepreneurs, storytellers, advocates, lawyers, and educators and learn what inspires them to pursue their work, and the impact their work is having on people, communities and our planet. Guests will also include alumni from our Summer School in Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy held in Venice, Italy every year.
Listen to an award-winning young Egyptian filmmaker who is trying to break down cultural and gender barriers, an American film producer who has been selected by Forbes 30 under 30 for her work and an Argentinian producer who uses film to showcase tragic events in Argentina and the interaction between science and the arts, and in the process be inspired!
Our podcasts are only 20 minutes in length as we know your time is precious!
Watch this space for a new episode each month!
Season 2
Reina-Marie Loader
Reina-Marie has been conducting practice-based research for over a decade. Her work predominantly focusses on docudrama and documentary storytelling that promote movement building, reconciliation, human rights and conservation. She completed her practice-based PhD on the concept of “documemory” and the ethical representation of war trauma on screen. Her films have received several awards from international film festivals including, for example, the Durban International Film Festival.
As part of a Master programme in Human Rights, Reina also conducted extended fieldwork in South Africa entailing the socio-political value of Ubuntu for improving the child justice system in the country – the experience of which deeply influences her practical and pedagogical work.
Her film about rhino poaching (HORN) was the beginning of a long journey to raising awareness about the links between human rights and conservation. She is currently developing a practical research project focused on this intersection between conservation, human rights and film.
Manu Krishan
We are thrilled to welcome Manu Krishan our first guest for Season 2 of our 'Journeys of Inspiration' podcast series. Manu is a human rights professional with expertise on the rights of the child. He was responsible for the coordination and assistance to the Independent Expert leading the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.
Since then, Manu has worked at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Italy, where he coordinates and leads the global study follow up and dissemination programme as well as the Global Campus Child Leadership Team Project.
Do take the time to learn how Manu is giving a voice to the voice-less and demanding more participatory opportunities for children in policy formation.
Season 1
Hayat Aljowaily
Our first guest for our Season 1 Series is, Hayat Aljowaily, a young Egyptian filmmaker and producer who works in Paris and strives to use documentaries to promote social cohesion and cultural understanding. Hayat, grew up between Washington D.C, Cairo, Geneva, and New York, and attended Sciences Po and Columbia University.
Since graduation, she has worked for Marvel Studios and currently works at Mediawan.
Aside from her work as a film professional, Hayat is also a filmmaker. Hayat’s bachelors' thesis film, Maybe Next Time, has screened at over 10 events and festivals around the world. Most notably, it won the Audience Award at the Tripoli Online Film Festival in Lebanon. She is currently developing several independent projects, including Last Call, a short film.
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Ana Fraile
Ana Fraile, a producer and filmmaker from Argentina, is our second guest for our ‘Journeys of Inspiration’ podcast series. Ana studied screenwriting at the International School of Television and Cinema and her first documentary received the National Film Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Having released her first documentary Un fueguito, about Cesar Milstein, a nobel-prize biochemist from Argentina in 2010, Ana subsequently founded Pulpofilms, a production company that specialises in creating audio-visual content in Buenos Aires.
Ana continues to pursue her artistic vision and storytelling, by producing documentaries and short films that highlight the intersection between science and art, and the historical aspects of tragic events in Argentina.
Find out more about what inspires Ana to pursue her career while hoping to make a difference to the world we live in.
Elizabeth Woodward
Elizabeth Woodward is an award-winning American filmmaker from New York City and founder of Willa Productions. Her films have been shortlisted for Academy Awards and premiered at the Venice Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival to name just a few.
Recent projects include ON THE DIVIDE a feature documentary about a community in South Texas divided over the last abortion clinic on the US/Mexico border and YOU RESEMBLE ME a narrative drama (Venice Film Festival 2021) which is currently on the festival circuit and has won 18 awards to date.
Other internationally acclaimed documentaries include Netflix’s THE GREAT HACK (2019 Academy Award shortlist) about the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data scandal, and HBO’s documentary series THE VOW: A NXIVM STORY which the New York Times called one of the Best TV shows of 2020.
In 2021, Elizabeth was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Media list and the DOC NYC 40 Under 40 list.
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In the podcast, you will learn how drives Elizabeth, her current projects and her three top tips for other women looking to enter into the world of film.
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Vicki Loader
Vicki is a sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocate from the U.K based in Senegal, West Africa, for the past seven years. She is a passionate believer in the right of women and girls to access safe, dignified and life changing SRH services.
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In her previous role with leading global provider of SRH services MSI Reproductive Choices, Vicki became interested in the potential of film and personal stories to help people to see an issue in a new light, and its power to amplify the voices of the people most impacted.
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Vicki recently began a new role with a Senegalese media production and campaigns NGO, leading on a new SRHR project supporting local activists and CSOs to develop their own content for SRHR campaigns in multiple African countries.
In the podcast, you will also learn about how Vicki is working, in collaboration with a Senegalese director, on her first documentary, exploring restrictions on abortion and how they play out in people’s lives in Senegal and The Gambia, home to some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Africa and the world.
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Mustafa Aslan
Mustafa Aslan is a videographer, and the co-founder and creative director of Kuest Media in Istanbul which aims to promote ideas of freedom and human rights, using explanatory journalism.
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Do take the time to learn about how Mustafa has spent time in Turkish civil society, volunteering for the 3H Movement, a liberal youth organisation which aims to gather and educate young people in Turkey about economic and political issues from a liberal viewpoint. You won't be disappointed.