About the film
FAQs
How did the idea to make Where the Water Meets the Sky come about?
Ann Cotton: In 2003, Camfed launched a new literacy initiative in northern Ghana called The Learning Circle. The program taught women who had been marginalized by poverty, illiteracy and disability to use technology – such as film -- as a new means of literacy. The revelation of the project was that the filmmaking experience gave the women themselves such dramatic gains in self-confidence and self-worth. When Camfed expanded the filmmaking initiative to the community of Samfya, in rural Zambia, we decided to record the women’s behind-camera experience, as well, to capture their experiences in a form that could be shared more widely.
Why film?
Ann Cotton: Women whose lives are deeply marginalized in their societies also tend to lack the most basic tools for self-defense or advocacy. There are no social means or venues that would encourage, or even allow, them to tell their own stories in their own voices, from their own perspective. But through the dynamic medium of film, their stories can be expressed in a form that has the potential to reach thousands of people –whether in rural communities, where film screenings are still uncommon and exciting events, or around the world through channels such as the internet, where short films are an increasingly popular way to share stories.
Why did you choose to conduct the filmmaking workshop in Samfya?
Ann Cotton: Camfed works in eighteen districts in Zambia – all rural, all very poor, but with different socio-economic backgrounds. We have been working in Samfya since 2001 and have established very strong ties with the community. Samfya district is a microcosm of many of the development challenges that Camfed sees in the regions where we work. It has a fragile economy which is based on fishing and subsistence-farming, it suffers from poor roads and transport, and lies a great distance from the national capital, Lusaka, and the nearest administrative center. It also has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS rates in all of Zambia. For all these reasons, we felt that Samfya had the most to gain from this filmmaking initiative.
How has the Samfya Women Filmmakers project benefited the community?
Ann Cotton: Most of the members of the Samfya Women Filmmakers were excluded from continuing their early childhood education because of poverty. Through the filmmaking project, they have acquired valuable new skills, such as expertise with modern technology, which will increase their economic potential. These empowering experiences encouraged the women to consider their own potential with more confidence and engage with their future choices in a fresh way. For example, Bridget is now a social worker. Agnes has enrolled in literacy classes: it is the first time she has been enrolled in school. Abigail is studying to enter the insurance business in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city. Other women have started their own small businesses or gone back to school. It has been extraordinary to see how every member of the group has moved forward in their lives.
The success of the film produced by the Samfya Women Filmmakers, I’ve Found My Way, has been particularly inspiring. More than 3,000 people in the Samfya community have attended the screenings. The enthusiasm and public conversation inspired by the film’s portrayal of the HIV/AIDS crisis galvanized support for the local health groups trying to teach HIV/AIDS awareness and testing in the community, and concentrated attention on the financial and emotional needs of orphans. Because of the Samfya Women Filmmakers’ courage in challenging their society’s status quo, the community has begun discussing ideas for improving families’ future health and prosperity. Traditional practices and mentalities are difficult to change in any society, but the Samfya Women Filmmakers have broken the first taboo by speaking out against the cost of these practices in their film. And they have provided the social leadership to confront a virulent and spiraling crisis that will otherwise continue to rob their families, and especially their children, of the most basic expectations of security, health, and family love.
How were the women who participated in the filmmaking workshop selected?
Ann Cotton: The women were chosen at random. Our objective was to involve a broad cross-section of women from the community representing a wide range of livelihoods, educational backgrounds and marital status. We interviewed women at the market, around the fishing community (the poorest area in Samfya), at the secondary school, and also women from Cama (the Camfed Association), a network of young African women who support each other’s aspirations to raise themselves economically through business, job training and other initiatives. In all, we gathered together a group of 23 women to participate, all from different domestic backgrounds and work experiences.
How did you choose the five key characters in the film?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: Just as we strove to include all sectors of the community in the workshop, we wanted to represent all sectors of the community in the documentary. For example; Agnes lives in the fishing camps; Abigail is a school girl; and Bridget is a member of Cama. We wanted to make sure we were representing the experiences of all the women living in Samfya. We also believed that a diverse group of women might be able to pool their skills and outlooks in a unique way, and find confidence together. For instance, the way that Agnes, who hasn’t been formally educated, approached filmmaking was different from the way that a student like Abigail approached it. Abigail liked to write everything down, whereas Agnes concentrated on observing, and getting a feel for the equipment. We also looked for women who felt comfortable on camera. Early on, we shot video diaries, to see how different individuals reacted to the camera, and we worked in depth with those who seemed most confident.
How did the men react when the women of their community decided to learn to make films?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: Overall, quite positively. Women are very much controlled by men in Samfya, so we were expecting there to be more difficulty. Most of the men supported their wives’ efforts. One woman’s husband stopped her from attending the Samfya Women Filmmakers meetings for a while, but he has since allowed her to rejoin the group. At the screening of the film that they produced, there was a real sense of pride among the men about what their wives had achieved. Some men got up and talked about how impressed they were at what they had seen. It is fairly universal: with the people that we love, we want them to do well. And we felt that coming from the men in Samfya.
Did you face any challenges in getting the women to return to the workshop day after day?
Ann Cotton: We wanted to make sure that women would not suffer financially by attending the workshop. So for women who worked in the market, for example, it was important to subsidize their participation through a per diem. This support also helped direct money into the hands of women, to give them a sense of economic independence. For many of them, it was their first experience of having money of their own. One group of women used the money to start a second-hand clothing business.
How did the women respond to the experience?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: There were different feelings at different times. But overall, the women were very interested in the project and became more and more excited as their filmmaking progressed. When they first returned from filming and watched through their rushes, they would end up laughing at seeing themselves onscreen. Later, as they began doing advocacy work around the film, we could see a sense of solidarity developing amongst the women. Their enthusiasm and confidence about all that they had achieved were clear. They had taken the project and made it their own.
Are there any particular moments of the filmmaking process that stand out for you?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: One of the moments that stands out was out was when we returned to Samfya for the second shoot, and saw the transformation of the women.. It had only been a few months, yet in so many ways these women were already changing the course of their lives. The difference was profound. Not only were they more confident, but they were managing their family life differently. Their babies looked better cared for, more nourished. In contrast to our first meetings when it had been difficult to get anyone to answer questions, everyone at our second shoot wanted to have their say and contribute to discussions. We walked around the community with them, doing mini-interviews with people, and it was remarkable to see how much they had learned and retained from the first workshop.
Another stand-out moment was at the first screening of their film for their community. To our surprise, the women stood up and began speaking into the microphone to direct the audience’s discussion of issues presented in the film. The confidence that they showed that evening was stunning. For it is not enough to make a film. You need people who are committed to the message of the film and are willing to promote it publicly. The Samfya Women Filmmakers showed that they were willing to take on that responsibility. Even now, when they screen the film around Zambia, they go directly into the communities in order to continue the discussions that their work has started.
Do the circumstances of the women in the film reflect the position of the average woman in Samfya?
Ann Cotton: Women in Samfya—and across much of Zambia – are second-class citizens. And the poorer you are, the less status you have. Some of the women in the film are in the most fragile position imaginable. They don’t have any food security; they live hand to mouth. They are dependent on their husbands. Other members of the group had higher levels of education, and earned a reasonable living. One thing that unified them is that they had all lost someone close to them as a result of HIV/AIDS. Most members of the filmmaking group have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Samfya has been particularly hard-hit by AIDS, and Zambia as a whole has one of the highest AIDS rates in the world. One in six Zambians is HIV positive,and the Zambian government estimates that half of the country’s population will eventually die of AIDS-related illnesses. In terms of education, the most recent data available indicates that only 7.6% of women in the province in which Samfya is located have progressed further than primary school, and more than half of women over the age of 15 are non-literate.
How will Camfed stay involved in Samfya?
Ann Cotton: Camfed already has a full educational partnership with the community of Samfya. Since 2002 we have been providing girls with financial and material support to attend school. We have also helped promote their economic independence after graduation by providing training and grants for small businesses through the Cama organization. Camfed’s commitment across Zambia is also strong. In 2007, we supported 3,666 Zambian girls at the high school level through our scholarship program. Through our Safety Net Program we were able to provide school uniforms and other school essentials to 21,692 children so that they could stay in school despite particular hardships. We also trained 191 teacher-mentors to provide vulnerable children in their schools with greater social support. We are committed to maintaining support for Samfya’s school children. And we will be working with the Samfya Women Filmmakers in their desire to improve educational opportunities and modern skills training for women. We believe that their commitment as filmmakers, and also their capacity to act as leaders within their community, will help them to promote changes locally and even nationally to benefit women’s and children’s lives.
What’s next for the Samfya Women Filmmakers?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: The Samfya Women Filmmakers meet once a month, and are continuing to make films about the issues that affect their lives and those of their children, to help bring about change in their community. They are currently working on a film about early marriage, which is one of the primary factors behind girls’ dropping out of school. Deprived of an education, these girls remain particularly vulnerable and dependent, with almost no means of escaping the cycle of poverty for themselves or their children. In the future, the Samfya Women Filmmakers will intend to address related topics, such as child labor and child abuse.
Later this year, Camfed will be teaching the filmmakers’ editing skills to help them film important community events, such as weddings and visits by special people. This greater technical training will help the women to establish a commercial business at some point, so that they can earn more money and acquire some financial independence.
How long did the whole process take to produce Where the Water Meets the Sky?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: The film was shot in three segments over the course of a year. First, we shot the workshop and the women’s activities making and screening their film. Then we returned to look at Penelop’s story in more detail. Finally we returned to film a follow-up with the women and see how their lives had progressed.
Where does the title of the documentary come from?
David Eberts & Helen Cotton: Samfya is a fishing community located in northeastern Zambia, on the shores of Lake Bangweulu. The translation of Bangweulu in the local language of Bemba is, “the place where the water meets the sky”. The title also connotes the way in which the Samfya Women Filmmakers have brought their community together to open up a dialogue on pressing issues such as HIV/AIDS, and shown their own limitless potential to inspire and lead change in their community.
What are Camfed’s future filmmaking plans?
Ann Cotton: Camfed has a feature film in development about child labor in Tanzania, which was conceived at the Sundance Institute during a workshop initiated and supported by the Skoll Foundation. The workshop brought together a small group of award-winning filmmakers and social entrepreneurs with the aim of forming a new kind of partnership, based on mutual trust, wherein each partner can maintain creative and social integrity and produce work that is socially significant and artistically compelling.
What was it like as a social entrepreneur to collaborate with filmmakers, and to be involved in the filmmaking process? Were there any challenges?
Ann Cotton: The important thing is that both parties, filmmaker and social entrepreneur, come to the project with shared values and shared principles. There had to be a strong element of trust – trust that the community was going to be considered first and foremost by everybody, that there were no boundaries that were going to be broken for the sake of getting good footage. From the outset, we agreed that the women who were participating in the workshop would lead the initiative, and that we would watch the process unfold without interfering with its course.
It was also very much on our minds that the women in the workshop were exploring, for the first time, and in public, issues which had affected them very deeply. I saw it as my role to make sure that they were entirely comfortable with the process, and knew they were in control. We continually told the women that if at any point they decided “Enough,” or didn’t want to be filmed, we would honor their wishes.
