Sherizaan Minwalla

Sherizaan Minwalla is a human rights lawyer and researcher who has been based in Iraq for more than a decade. She has worked closely with the Yazidi community and survivors since the 2014 genocide.

 

Individuals featured in documentaries or media reports may be exposed to physical, social, or psychological risks

The concept of informed consent as a legal requirement is rooted in ethical principles to ”do no harm”

We encourage filmmakers to integrate informed consent … while ultimately working towards structures and mechanisms of societal and legal accountability.

Advancing a Global Human Rights Approach to Media Accountability
By SHERIZAAN MINWALLA, Founder of Taboo LLC

Global attention on unethical media practices has intensified in recent years, leading to greater scrutiny of harms that occur to sources and participants. Individuals featured in documentaries or media reports may be exposed to physical, social, or psychological risks in the process of gathering their stories and in the aftermath of public exposure, requiring legal protection from and accountability for retaliation, stigma, and trauma. This is particularly important when sensitive or controversial issues are covered.

Media makers, including documentary filmmakers and video journalists, are increasingly considering the voluntary ethics and guidelines that apply to their work. However, towards the creation of a long-term solution to media accountability at the societal and legal levels, a framework for engaging with survivors should be based on informed consent, trauma-informed, survivor- and community-centered practices. From a human rights lens, implementing informed consent practices is a step toward ensuring that media makers can be held to account legally and socially, providing a safeguard against exploitative practices.

The concept of informed consent as a legal requirement is rooted in ethical principles to ”do no harm” and to safeguard the rights of participants in medical research, starting with the Nuremberg Code of 1947. It followed the disclosure that the Nazi regime conducted medical experiments on prisoners and other marginalized groups that amounted to atrocities. The Nuremberg Code was expanded by the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and the 1979 Belmont Report, stressing the importance of confidentiality, assessment of risks and benefits, and the autonomy of research participants. These ethical codes have been codified in laws across the world, making informed consent a legal requirement for medical providers, researchers, lawyers, and other professionals working with human beings.

These principles are also the basis for guidelines such as those set forth in the Murad Code on documenting sexual violence in conflict and the Dart Center Europe’s guidelines for Reporting on Sexual Violence in Conflict. However, since these are not legally enforceable rules, participants engaging with the media need legal protections. We encourage filmmakers to integrate informed consent into their filmmaking practices, while ultimately working towards structures and mechanisms of societal and legal accountability.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – Harbor

Wed, June 5, 2024, 5:30–7:30 PM
Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Join us for the film screening of Harbor, a film that follows the life of Liza Star, a local Monterey Bay fisherwoman. Get a chance to learn a bit of Liza’s daily life in the fishing and water-based industries in the Monterey Bay along with her journey to how she got here, starting from her childhood and upbringing in Rhode Island. Experience the film beside the ocean at the Seymour Discovery Center, and get a chance to eat locally caught Monterey Bay seafood with the appetizers served at the beginning of the event. There will also be a discussion panel of various Stewards of the Sea: people who are dedicated to the ocean through their jobs and lives.

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jenn Lee Smith, was a panelist for Will You Be My Angel Funder? at the CAAMFest Filmmaker Summit. The panel focused on discussing what moves donors to invest in Asian American stories.


Will You Be My Angel Funder?

Friday, May 10, 2024, 11:30 am

In partnership with A-Doc.

Featuring Jenn Lee Smith (Donor, Producer, Home Court), Masashi Niwano (Director of Artist Development, SFFILM), Robina Riccitiello (Partner, Spark Features), and Diane Quon (Executive Producer, Taste of Mango, Home Court).

Moderated by Don Young (Director of Programs, CAAM)

More info on CAAM’s website.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – Sammy’s Final Arrangement

Wednesday, May 29, 2024, 6:30–8:30 PM
CAST, 447 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Have you ever had to sacrifice a dream to make way for something else? At some point in our lives we all experience giving up something meaningful to make room for something else also important to us.

Join us for this event as we explore that moment in Sammy’s Final Arrangement, a profound and introspective film by Chad Santo Tomas profiling a florist at the peak of his game who comes to terms with his career as he decides to retire. In the process, he reflects on the unexpected grief that comes with pursuing your dreams, and the consequences of loss and making difficult life decisions. Following the film will be a discussion about the themes it explores with the filmmaker and the subject, Sammy, moderated by Melanie Elvena from the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. Be ready and open to share some of your buried dreams to be released into the ether.

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – Saranam Gacchâmi

Saturday, May 12, 2024, 4:00–6:00PM
Gyuto Foundation
6401 Bernhard Ave, Richmond, CA 94805

Join us for the film screening of Saranam Gacchâmi, an inspiring story about Ven Thupten Donyo, a visionary Buddhist monk from the Himalayan foothills of Nepal. Witness his extraordinary journey to California, where he defied all odds to establish one of the Bay Area’s largest Tibetan Monasteries—a sanctuary preserving endangered Tibetan culture, traditions, and language. Experience the Monastery and glimpse the beautiful Tibetan culture and vibrant community in the Bay Area. Enjoy a guided Monastery Tour and chai before the film with us!

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – Día de Abuelita

Saturday, May 11, 2024, 6:00–8:00PM
Raíces y Cariño
1205 Freedom Boulevard #Unit 3B Watsonville, CA 95076

Join us to honor our Abuelita’s, whether biological or chosen, with food, films and ceremony. We will gather to share stories of our beloved elders, build a collective altar to honor them, and watch films by local filmmakers who share stories of their Abuelos.

This will be a bilingual event in Spanish and English, families of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jennifer Huang, recently participated in several events in Europe.


FIFDH

Jennifer Huang pitched her film, The Long Rescue, at FIFDH on March 12, 2024. The film is one of the 16 documentary projects selected to take part in the Impact Lab 2024. The Long Rescue follows Filipina teen sex trafficking survivors for nine years in an intimate journey of recovery.

Centering Care, Consent and Community in Visual Storytelling

Jennifer Huang was a speaker at Centering Care, Consent and Community in Visual Storytelling, a community learning event on best practices for consent-based, trauma-informed, and community-centered visual storytelling presented by ART WORKS ProjectsRe-Present MediaVideo Consortium, and The Hague Humanity Hub on March 25, 2024. Organized with the Movies that Matter Festival, the event aimed to engage diverse participants who have been using visual storytelling to create impact, whether in grassroots organising, advocacy, education, fundraising, or policy change.

Movies that Matter

Jennifer Huang was a speaker on the panel, Power Dynamics and International Co-productions, at Movies that Matter on March 25, 2024. Jennifer also served on the jury for the Camera Justitia Award.

CPH:DOX – INTRO:DOX

Jennifer Huang attended CPH:DOX and participated in the INTRO:DOX program for emerging filmmakers working on their first or second non-fiction feature.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – We Just Want to Be

Saturday, April 27, 2024, 2:15–4:45PM
The New Parkway Theater
474 24th Street Oakland, CA 94612

Screening of new footage from We Just Want to Be, panel discussion with community mental health advocates, and audience Q&A with the filmmakers.

We Just Want to Be is a documentary film in early production that tells the story of a survivor’s lifelong healing from trans conversion therapy, and the friendships across race and generation that helped facilitate that journey.

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, for being selected as a 2024 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow, with her film, Coach Emily. Participants in the 2024 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship receive $10,000 in unrestricted funding, mentorship, industry access, feedback sessions, and workshops during an immersive 9-month experience.

Coach Emily is a feature documentary that follows Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based Black and queer rock climbing coach, as she battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life. Through her Brown Girls Climbing program, Emily trains young girls of color, including her own daughter, as they resist discrimination in the climbing world and work to define themselves in the outdoors.

Centering Care, Consent and Community in Visual Storytelling


Mon, 25 Mar 2024
17:30 – 20:00 CET

The Hague Humanity Hub
Fluwelen Burgwal 58, The Hague

Join ART WORKS Projects, Re-Present Media, Video Consortium, and The Hague Humanity Hub for a community learning event on best practices for consent-based, trauma-informed, and community-centered visual storytelling. Organised with the Movies that Matter Festival, the evening will engage diverse participants who have been using visual storytelling to create impact, whether in grassroots organising, advocacy, education, fundraising, or policy change.

Over the course of the evening, we will hear from Jennifer Huang, Director and Producer of The Long Rescue, the 2022 recipient of the Storyboard Impact Community Fund from Movies That Matter Industry Film and Impact initiative. We will also host a panel discussion discussing cases from different organisations and mediamakers. Participants will be able to share their ideas on how we can develop hands-on tools that will nurture industry-wide change and promote ethical, responsible, and respectful storytelling processes for trauma survivors, mediamakers, and the people and organisations who amplify these stories.

This initiative is part of the Humanity Hub’s programming in collaboration with visual advocacy organisations aiming to emphasise storytelling, photography, filmmaking, and other visual media as essential tools for conveying narratives, fostering understanding, and amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups. These are critical tools for anyone working in the peace, justice, and humanitarian field. Our primary goal is to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among visual advocacy organisations, extending valuable insights to the broader peace and justice community.

We warmly invite filmmakers as well as other practitioners – including social justice and peace advocates, campaigners, fundraisers, policy makers, justice and legal practitioners, and representatives from civil society organisations – to join us. This event is a unique opportunity for mutual learning, allowing us to deepen our collective understanding of how we can employ visual storytelling in a more ethical, responsible and respectful manner.

Free and open to the public.

Register on Eventbrite.