MEDIA RELEASE

Western Sydney Stories Go Digital

Released 14 January 2008

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

Youth leaders from Western Sydney are the first Australians to join the global digital storytelling project, Digi-Tales, thanks to an initiative presented by the British Council and Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE).

The stories join work from around the world, including Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the UK to be widely distributed on television, DVD, to schools, on broadband channels and online at the Digi-Tales (www.digi-tales.org) and ICE (www.ice.org.au) sites.

From 15 January, one of the world’s leading youth film organisation, the UK-based Hi8us, will train the young leaders in the arts of online storytelling, including scriptwriting, sound recording, editing and filmmaking. The films will be based on the stories evoked by personal items such as photos, tickets and passports.

After making their own ‘digi-tale’ they will pass on the skills to other youth from Sarah Redfern HS and Macarthur Diversity Services in a project that will culminate in a screening at Campbelltown Arts Centre on Friday 25 January.

Major partner, The British Council are proud to support the project. British Council Director Christopher Wade says it will highlight the unique stories of Western Sydney youths to a global audience. ‘Digi-Tales works to express the individual experiences of the storytellers, at the same time highlighting the similarities in our stories that cross boundaries of nationality and culture’.

Hi8us trainer Outi Vellacott says Digi-Tales aims to develop digital media skills and build self-esteem. ‘This method places the stories under the control of the storyteller. The aim is also to bring people together through their personal stories and to capture a wide variety of experiences worldwide,’ she said.

Youth leader Fatima Mawas, 21, says the project will help to expose the unique stories in her community. ‘There’s a lot of migrants in Western Sydney, there’s a lot of refugees,’ she says. ‘They all come to Australia and interact with each other and we need to tell these stories before they’re lost – not only in the local area but tell them to the world. And it’s so simple – you use photographs and you use voiceover and you can tell a story. You don’t have to be a tech whiz or a filmmaker extraordinaire.’

Sudanese leader Bernard Makeny also sees the project as an avenue to express Western Sydney’s stories ‘People have stories about their life experiences, the hardships some people went through, the feelings and experiences they have. There’s a lot of things to tell in the west!’

Afghan-Australian leader Zahra Shafaq agrees. ‘In Bankstown young people have nothing to do,’ she says. ‘If I had no job, nothing, I would just be walking around with my friends, shopping. But if there’s workshops like this, you meet people your own age and you have the chance to do something great.’

The project is supported by the British Council and coordinated by Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE), the Granville-based community arts and technology organisation.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Contact Sarah Goodes at ICE on 0411 878 250 or email sarah.goodes@ice.org.au

Interviews and images available on request.