The purpose of this short film and of the course it was part of (CMNS 428 - "Media Analysis Project Group: Documentary Media Production" at Simon Fraser University, in Spring 2010), was to promote local artists through video production. It was conceived as an artist profile piece, focused on highlighting one of the themes reoccurring in the visual art and poetry of Colombian-born, Vancouver (Canada)-based young artists Adriana Contreras and Pablo Muñoz – art for social change. “Nomadic Brushstrokes” became an official selection of Vancouver Latin American Film Festival in 2011, screened as part of the “¡Fiesta 125! A Celebration of Latin American Culture in Vancouver” Gala.

This selection contains the beginning and the middle of the video, featuring intertwined visual art and poetry of both artists, as well as a brief explanation of their connection and affinity for art. All the art showcased is the exclusive property of the artists and used with their permission.

Special thanks to Adriana Contreras & Pablo Muñoz and David Murphy, Chris Jeschelnik & Rebecca Plucer (Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology).

CREDITS

Director/Producer: Roxana Slujitoru

Narrators: Adriana Contreras & Pablo Muñoz

Executive Producers: David Murphy, Rebecca Plucer & Chris Jeschelnik

Cinematography: Roxana Slujitoru, Adriana Contreras & Pablo Muñoz

Editing: Roxana Slujitoru

Photography: Pablo Muñoz & Adriana Contreras

Original Music: Roxana Slujitoru

All visual art and poetry used in this short film are courtesy of artists Adriana Contreras and Pablo Muñoz (all rights reserved).

For more information on Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, please check www.sfu.ca/fcat.html.

For more information on Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, please check www.vlaff.org.

The final assignment for one of the upper level courses I took at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) in the summer of 2010 (CMNS 363 - "Approaches to Media and Audience Research") was a pilot research project about fan cultures. As a result, this short film is a case study of Capoeira (Brazilian Martial Art) and its fans, project that was highly facilitated by the occurrence of an international event organized by Capoeira Malês Vancouver during that time, which gave us access to a wide variety of fans (practitioners, participants, observers etc.). Centered around 2 research questions - "Did media (more exactly new media, movies, video games, commercials and online videos) play a positive role in creating awareness of Capoeira?" and "What sets Capoeira apart from other martial art forms?", our pilot project used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to answer those.

This selection contains the beginning of the video, as well as a few answers to the main questions by passers-by and Masters of Capoeira.

Special thanks to Dr. Stephen Kline, Chris Jeschelnik & Joel Blok (Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology), Mestre Curisco, Mestre Lua Branca, Mestre Fran and all the participants to Capoeira Malês Vancouver's 5th Capoeira Festival.

CREDITS 

Director/Writer/Narrator: Roxana Slujitoru

Producers: Roxana Slujitoru, Annick Lung, Lynn Osler

Cinematography: Roxana Slujitoru

Editing: Roxana Slujitoru

Photography: Conan Gale

Animation: Beatriz Koehler

Music: Capoeira Malês Vancouver, Mestre Acordeon, Axe Capoeira, and Capoeira Brasil

For more information on Capoeira Malês, please check www.curisco.com.

For more information on Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, please check www.sfu.ca/fcat.html.

This short film is the result of collaboration between ARX (Action Research Exchange) Project at SFPIRG (Simon Fraser University Public Interest Research Group) and the SFU School of Communications (particularly, the upper-level course CMNS 425 – “Applied Communication for Social Issues”, in Spring 2010). The purpose of the project is to connect students with non-profit community organizations that have limited resources, but are in need of research, while the assignment gets credit as part of the respective course at university as well. “Check Your Head” was the community organization in this case and their need of a video material that could be used in one of their workshops about youth involvement and climate change coincided with one of the themes to be developed into a communication strategy final project for the course. The aim of this short film is to explore whether or not the youth today are apathetic to get involved and the role media plays in this, through an example of student-organized and supported action for climate and environmental action. Among other initiatives, on December 11, 2009, Windermere Secondary, Sir Winston Churchill and other high school’s students from Vancouver (Canada) organized a zero-waste event called “C3 Climate Change Conference” that attracted over 270 participants, and whose goal was to inform, educate and develop ways to take action against climate change. Dr. Andrew Weaver, major contributor to the Nobel prizewinning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was one of their guests. The film is structured around the students’ opinion regarding talking to Youth Delegates in Copenhagen (part of the International Climate Conference there), Dr. Weaver’s speech, media discourse and how it affects youth engagement, and whether young people care about climate change. The selection here contains their answers to the last section and the end of the video.

Many thanks to (in alphabetical order) Alice Paul, Caroline Lee, Cassandra Ly, Chanel Ly, Emily Chan, Faber Neifer, ARX and SFPIRG, Sean Magee and Check your Head, and Dr. Martin Laba (SFU School of Communication, Art and Technology).

CREDITS

Director/Producer: Roxana Slujitoru

Executive Producers: Sean Magee, Check your Head, SFPIRG

Cinematography: Roxana Slujitoru

Editing: Roxana Slujitoru

Music: Soundprank – “Too quiet – Not Enough Noise (soundprank_s_bitmix)”, Ghost – “Ice and Chilli”, Echoed – “L.O.R.D. 2010 (remastered version); TenaciousC – “From out of Nowhere” and 350 videos, all used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License. 

The DVD containing the entire film can be rented from the SFPIRG Library at SFU's Burnaby campus. 

For more information on ARX (SFPIRG), please check www.sfpirg.ca/category/action-research-exchange.

For more information on Check your Head, please see www.checkyourhead.org.

For more information on SFU's School of Communication, Art and Technology, please check: www.sfu.ca/fcat.html.

This short video was part of the graduation from the Documentary Filmmaking Pilot Program at InFocus Film School (Vancouver, Canada), in August 2009. The goal of the program is to enhance hand-on film experience by community partnerships, where video material needed by the (usually non-profit) organizations is freely provided by the students, for the purpose of creating social change through film. EYA (Environmental Youth Alliance) was our partner, and we focused on one of the projects they had at that moment, part of the "Green Initiatives" - "Blood Alley Community Greening" - creating a living wall in Blood Alley (a part of Downtown Eastside Vancouver struggling to cope with reoccurring social and economic issues). This is a short selection of the final short film.

Special thanks to the Vancouver Downtown Eastside residents, EYA, and all the people involved in the making of this film.

CREDITS 

Director/Writer/Narrator: Roxana Slujitoru

Cinematography: Alejandro Zuluaga & Michael Lin

Editing: Kevin Pi & Alejandro Zuluaga  

Executive Producer: Steve Rosenberg (InFocus Film School)

Music: Colin Mutchler "You and me and everybody we know (ft. Grizzly616, bobbi)" used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NY License, for education purposes. For more information, please check www.creativecommons.org.

For more information on EYA, please check www.eya.ca.

For more information on InFocus Film School, please check www.infocusfilmschool.com.