Saturday 18 February 2012

Post-Production Begins


Mayan Women and NWI Delegation members at meeting, opening ceremony.
Videographer films meeting of Mayan Women and NWI Delegation.
Jody Willams speaks with a representative of Mayan Women.

Rachel and Adele are back from filming in Guatemala. They traveled with the Nobel Women’s Initiative Delegation to learn about the issues women in Guatemala are facing, and had the opportunity to interview Nobel Laureate Jody Williams. They then traveled to eastern Guatemala to meet with the Mayan Q’eqchi’ women, and others involved in the resistance against mining. There were some unexpected surprises, and some changes to production–we can plan all we want for the production phase of a project, but until we are actually filming, we never truly know what will happen and what we will come home with. Now, the story is fuller and more connected than we had realized.There is a strong and united group of Mayan Q'eqchi' people involved in the resistance against mining, and Rachel and Adele had full access to their stories.

We still have some remaining production to complete in Canada, which includes interviews with lawyers and the mining company. At the same time we are now working on post-production, which includes editing the storyboard, reviewing the film and footage, writing a narrative, and editing a trailer. Adele is currently working on converting/labeling/sorting the video footage and processing the photography. Rachel is researching archival mining and genocide footage and photographs. Together we will be writing letters, drafting proposals for submission, fact checking, and looking for additional post-production funds.

What you may be surprised about is that this process is longer than production, and can be longer than pre-production. This is where we get into the details of weaving a story together – where we try to make the initial vision a reality. I point this out because as anyone who has been through a long-term project knows, once you wade into the details of a project you have to be conscious of forgetting the mission – becoming so detail focused that you forget (or lose the passion) for what made you want to tell the story in the first place.

Together, we will strive to give the Mayan Q’eqchi’ people a platform to show their strength, and tell their story. As a team, we ask that you continue to help us spread the word about this film and the important issues it will address.

Thank-you for your continued support.


Lee K. Toepfer