The second year of Filmmaking for Social Change workshops is drawing to a close here in Karachi. Patrick and I returned to Pakistan after a gap of 5 weeks while the student shot their films. We were pleased to see that each of the 11 groups had managed to stick to their initial story ideas and had produced some incredible footage. Excitement and pride on both sides, soon turned into deep concentration and late nights as they threw themselves into the last stages of the process.

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The second Filmmaking for Social Change Workshop, lead by Patrick Hazard of LIDF and supported by the BHC in Pakistan kicked off today with 30 new recruits from Karachi and Lahore, excited and full of ideas.

Induction day for the workshop participants

The students spent two induction days at a beautiful farm on the outskirts of Karachi, getting to know each other, discussing ideas and of course relaxing before the hard work begins.

After this intense week-long workshop, covering the history and theory of documentary film as well technical and aesthetic considerations, the students have a month to shoot 10 documentary films in groups of 3. We will return in March for editing and post production. The films will be shown at LIDF 2010 at the British Museum as part of our Pakistan focus day and 5 lucky students will have the chance to travel to London to present and discuss their films.

Watch this space for more news and blogs as the workshop progresses.