 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Katie Becker")
When the man walked up to her, she had no idea what he was going to say. Quietly, he asked her what home meant to her. Home. She thought about it for a moment, contemplating the question before answering that home meant love, family and safety.
He just stared at her. “Us people here have none of that,” he said.
Over winter break, a group of media production students journeyed with Professor Liam O’Brien to South Africa with the goal of filming two documentaries. Traveling with a notion of what they might see, the group, instead, returned with one experience that exceeded expectations.
“It was an eye opening experience and I met amazing people who have survived incredible struggles that are unimaginable,” said junior public relations major Erin Joyce-Brady. “When that man came up to me that is when it really hit me what it means to have a home where I know I can return to everyday and sleep safely.”
The primary documentary was filmed mostly outside of the South African legislative capital, Cape Town. The goal of the film was to inform people of the growing social issues in the area.
“The first documentary was filmed to raise awareness about the xenophobia attacks in the townships and the migrant issues that South Africa faces,” Joyce-Brady said.
Xenophobia, which is defined as an unreasonable fear, distrust or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anything perceived as foreign or different, is a growing problem in South Africa. Recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa have been directed against foreigners living in various poor urban villages throughout the country . The government has been making an effort to place the victims of xenophobic attacks all over Africa in refugee camps on the outskirts of Cape Town. The students have already posted a five-minute documentary online to raise awareness.
“This short documentary describes how the Blue Waters Refugee residents were taken out of the townships due to xenophobia attacks. The government placed them in this refugee camp, but now that the attacks are over, the government wants them to leave so they can turn the camp into a holiday attraction. A lot of the residents have left, but the 400 or so that have stayed are there because they are terrified to leave the camp,” said Joyce-Brady.
The second documentary is a wildlife documentary filmed at Kruger National Park. The students spent the remainder of their days in South Africa capturing the life and behaviors the many African animals such as antelope, lions and zebra.
Both documentaries are being submitted to the Student Academy Awards in addition to other competitions and festivals.
“The main goal is to show the documentary to as many people as possible to raise the awareness in America of these serious issues in South Africa and possibly spark motivation for additional help,” said senior media production major Mike Young.
These documents were filmed as the lab portion of the media production class MEP 355. This course focuses on the creation and filming of documentaries. Professor Liam O’Brien took students to South Africa the past six years and helped the students film and edit a different documentary every year.
“When I was a production manager in Los Angeles, I was sent to South Africa for a year to overlook the production of three different films,” O’Brien said. “After that I had gone back at least a dozen times. South Africa is fascinating.”
The documentary is only part of the experience for the students. Traveling around the world to film it is the real experience.
“For me personally, I've always wanted to travel to Africa and being a media production major made it the perfect scenario,” said senior media production major Katie Becker. “I also am very passionate about documentary films, so this was something great to have on my resume.”
The refugee problem has been predicted to get worse with the 2010 Soccer World Cup being held in South Africa. It will be easier for anyone including xenophobes to enter and obtain residence in the country. The South African government fears that when they come into the country, they may never leave. The South African government thinks this will increase the problem and undo all the work the government has already done .
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