Guest Lecture- The Hot Spring Network launch

Speech by Wendy Dent
Guest speaker at The Hot Spring Network launch, Philadelphia, February 22, 2011

I laughed when I saw the poster for tonight´s launch, and saw myself labeled as a rogue documentarian. I never thought of myself like that. It made me think too. It was never in my life plan. After all, no-one thinks when they’re young “when I grow up, I want to be a ROGUE documentarian”. And especially not me.

I was always little Miss Responsible. I was groomed for a career in politics, or law, or journalism. But I took a step to the left, right off the map. I followed my dreams, to be a starving actor, then a starving filmmaker! And people told me I was crazy. But now I´m used to people telling me “you just can´t do that¨. Whether it’s to go to Zimbabwe and film undercover. Or to come to Philadelphia and hope to run up the stairs of the art museum like Rocky- on crutches. Now when people tell me you can't do that, I think WHY NOT?

The world is always telling us not to do things.

In Zimbabwe I was told that it was a crime, punishable by 20 years imprisonment, to commit an act of journalism. But still I filmed.

Some Zimbabweans told me it was wrong for a westerner to film the human rights abuses in their continent, or to give aid to the people – that giving hope is a crime. But still I filmed.

Why?

When I was at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival in Harare, I met the directors of a documentary about child soldiers in Uganda. That film was shown at the Berlin international film festival, and was so shocking I couldn´t watch it. But it had such an impact in Berlin, with the public outcry about the situation after its screening at the Berlin Film Festival, that it changed where the aid supplies were distributed in Uganda. Aid was secured to be out of the hands of the war lords, and that helped save a lot of lives. Those directors made change.

Another film was made by distributing digital cameras to people throughout Afghanistan. Then producers collected and edited their footage to show to the world.

That to me, was a film worth making.

I think many films suffer from one problem. They are looking for a DEPTH they can’t seem to find.

Film is a medium that gives us a window into our world. And gives us the power to change the frame.

But we are told to follow the rules. Get a permit. Get consent forms signed by from anyone who even looks at your camera. Get funding. And make your film in the most expensive way possible.

I didn´t do that. I broke the rules. It's called guerilla filmmaking for a reason.
It is a risk but it’s one I’m glad I took, for sure.

Film has been the medium of our time. From the Oscars to YouTube, film and video makes our world go round. People used to talk about wanting to write the great American book. Now they talk about making the great American film.

What will be the medium tomorrow? A new form of social networking? Or perhaps the better question is, what will be YOUR medium?

Because we all have something we really care about, and a way to change our world. You might not even know what it is yet. But maybe it will find you.

For years I glanced at headlines about Zimbabwe, and I didn’t really get it, or didn’t listen. It’s all politics. About some other people´s problems. It didn´t affect me. But political freedom is like mobility, I’ve found. You don´t notice how important it is, until it’s gone.

When I went to Zimbabwe, I met people that had to wake up to that reality every day.

Allow me to quote Martin Niemellor, a German Lutheran pastor whose anti-Nazi activities made him a hero in his church's struggles against Hitler:

“When Hitler attacked the Jews I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church - and there was nobody left to be concerned.”

If it is your mother, your father, your sister, or brother, in a war torn country, would you want to help? Or your friend?

When YOU meet THESE people on film, you start to care about them. They become your friends. So you are interested. When someone is made a subject of a film, suddenly we all are interested. We care about what is going on in their world. What might happen to them.

When we watch films we talk about them, share them with others, and expand our world. We travel to Zimbabwe. Some of us are lucky enough, bold enough, or stupid enough to go there. Others cannot. But how my world has grown by starting to care.

Most of us measure our lives in terms of our achievements, or our success. Films are measured in terms of awards. But I urge you to think again how we measure our success, or what matters in life.

Walking on crutches lately, it's easy to feel sorry for myself. But then I just have to remember one thing. Life could be worse. I could be in Zimbabwe right now.

Depression is a curse, so often hidden from the world, by high achieving people with high standards of living, in affluent countries. Bored. Frustrated. Lacking meaning in their world. The small things in our lives become petty.

People who are fighting for their lives, in war-torn countries, don’t commit suicide.
When we get involved with people who are struggling, really struggling, it puts our own struggles in perspective. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Arguments over the washing-up… worries about how much we earn… does it really matter. Does it really count?

I once saw a cartoon, showing a well dressed man, obviously successful. The caption read: “he drank an award winning wine. In an award winning restaurant. With his award winning friends. Then drove home to his award winning house. In an award winning car. And fell into an award winning depression”.

Was he really making a difference to the world?
What matters to many people more than money is the feeling they are important. One way to do that is to make a difference in the world.

Helping students with disabilities helped me stop feeling sorry for myself. I assisted a single mother who had started a law degree the day after she was electrocuted when she was walking down a street and a power line fell on top of her. Every day she never ceased to inspire me.

We have responsibility to the world, and to ourselves, to do what we can, when we find ourselves empowered to make a difference. In Zimbabwe I found myself with that responsibility, to use my filmmaking skills to help change the frame.

We are all actors. All the world is a stage. We play many different roles, to different people in our lives. We can take the lead role. And we can be the directors too. When the spotlight falls on us, the question we have to ask ourselves is, do we want to be a bit part, or do we want to be a hero?

Can we step up to the challenge, and change the second act?

Whether that is designing cars for the future, or starting a community cleanup day, or a website or a hot spring network of change makers, or making a film - we can all use our s:ills, expand them in ways we never thought possible. Dare to dream and make a difference.

Sometimes there are risks. Or the challenges seem insurmountable. But when you step up to the stage, you’ll find others are also there in the wings, wanting to help. Wanting to also play a part. In Philadelphia I found people rush to help me climb onto the cable cars, on my crutches. In Zimbabwe we found escorts willing to help us outrun the secret service.

What risks am I prepared to take? How far will I go?

Go as far as you can. Then you can work as a team to go further. Find other people to help.

I wanted to film at the Hopley farm in Zimbabwe, where people have been living in tents for years, since eviction from their homes by Mugabe's land clearing operations. I was told “you're not nearly black enough”. But the Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights gave me their photos instead. And Amnesty gave me footage of the operation Murambatsvina that I needed for my film.

There is always a way. But it takes bravery. and audacity- to believe you can make a difference.

We have to dare to believe we can do things, by just saying "why not".

We have to step out of our comfort zone. Why not? I plan to live an extraordinary life.

It easy to say ¨be the change”. It takes a lot more to be a change maker.
Have you got gumption? Tenacity?

Of course you do.

All the world is a stage.

I took that one step further. Armed with only a video camera, I made the world my set. And looked for a way to change the frame.

Wendy Dent