You might have noticed that Sierra Leone has been cropping up in the news again lately. The verdict on the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone has been dominating the headlines worldwide.
photo from The Guardian
The day after this trial, a much less publicised event was the country's 51st Independence Day celebrations. Although the world's press and leaders were fixated on the Taylor verdict, I dare say Sierra Leoneans themselves were more preoccupied with the plans for the parties at the weekend! These costly, internationally orchestrated trials have little direct impact on people's lives, unlike the community based reconciliation programmes such as Fambul Tok. Sierra Leone, unlike global journalists, has her eyes not so aimed on the past as towards the future, specificially the general election taking part later this year, a crucial next step for Salone's progress.
The BBC World Service programme World Have Your Say has been reporting from Freetown recently. This short film is an insightful and balanced piece on some of the discussions surrounding the responsibility of Western journalists reporting on Sierra Leone and the developing world in general. Perhaps this is too little too late, there has been so much discussion lately on such topics, but when are institutions like the BBC really going to commit to a change of approach? I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
A few more pieces of news....
A bit of news from WeOwnTV - Arthur Pratt's They Resisted (the film he is making at the start of Shooting Freetown) managed to pick up a gong at the Sierra Leone International Film Festival in March - Best Short Film! A big congratulations to all the team in Freetown, you'll be able to see an exclusive snippet of the film up on this blog very soon...
I'd like to send out a slightly belated very happy birthday to Mr Banker White, founder and Director of WeOwnTV, which is continuing to do great work in getting young people in Freetown engaged in film-making, getting Salone stories out there to the world.
For his birthday wish, Banker has decided that instead of gifts he would like people to contribute towards helping Michaella Sallu and the rest of the ladies at WeOwnTV's Women's Producing Initiative. By donating an amount, however small, you can help the WeOwnTV ladies to get their own dedicated (and pink!) camera to raise awareness of women's issues in Freetown and beyond. I really urge to you help them reach this target, of course I'll report back on how they get on, but here's a message from the girls themselves....
