Follow this link to the festival website and the programme of 30 films.

By application only.

Application deadline: Monday 7th November 2011.
For further information on the programme and lecturers, contact: www.firestation.ie/classes
Email: artadmin@firestation.ie
Tel: 01 8069010

By application only.

Application deadline: Monday 7th November 2011.
For further information on the programme and lecturers, contact: www.firestation.ie/classes
Email: artadmin@firestation.ie
Tel: 01 8069010

Lecturers: Áine O'Brien, Alan Grossman and Roberta McGrath

This introductory session will provide an overview of visual ethnographic inquiry, its key principles and methods. Participants will gain an understanding of ethnographic practice across numerous national, transnational, and institutional fieldsites, together with an appreciation of the distinction between reflexive and reflective representations of sustained ethnographic fieldwork. A focus on the place of the archive within human rights discourse will also be explored, mediated through a critical understanding of the artist/researcher/fieldworker as an embodied, politically situated cultural actor. 

Locating these screenings in Dublin City Libraries acknowledges the importance of stimulating dialogue about immigration and cultural difference in local spaces used and shared by cross-sections of the community. For more information about Social Inclusion Week, please go to: (http://www.dublin.ie/dcdb/social-inclusion-week-2011.htm)

Venue & Date:

Wednesday 4th May in Coolock Library

Thursday 5th May in Walkinstown Library

Friday 6th May in Central Library, 10.30-11.30am

Locating these screenings in Dublin City Libraries acknowledges the importance of stimulating dialogue about immigration and cultural difference in local spaces used and shared by cross-sections of the community. For more information about Social Inclusion Week, please go to: (http://www.dublin.ie/dcdb/social-inclusion-week-2011.htm)

Venue & Date:

Wednesday 4th May in Coolock Library

Thursday 5th May in Walkinstown Library

Friday 6th May in Central Library, 10.30-11.30am

'Sanctuary' is a collection of stories of people seeking asylum in Ireland in association with Storytellers of Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council. In 24 ultra-short monologues, all less than one minute long, people who have sought asylum and received refuge in Ireland tell their stories – in their own words, but performed by actors and writers living in Ireland.

To accompany the screening of 'Sanctuary,'selected excerpts will be performed live by Jack Lynch of Storytellers of Ireland and actors Yomi Ogunyemi and Donna Nikolaisen.

Time & date: 10 May, 5.30-7pm   Venue: The Creation Arcade, 22/23 Duke Street, Dublin 2

'Out of Order' - Public Screening

Public Screenings of short videos by Veronica Vierin

Time & date: 10 May, 7pm- 9pm  Venue: The Creation Arcade, 22/23 Duke Street, Dublin 2

There will be four short presentations followed by an open discussion of the issues involved here.
 
Organised by Eibhlin Evans, Director of ‘The Flying Book Club’

Venue: Creation Arcade, 22/23 Duke Street, Dublin 2

Please note it is necessary to contact FOMACS in advance to register for this event.
Contact:   Maeve Burke or Ann Nolan
Tel:          (01) 402 3006
Email:      info.fomacs@dit.ie

Venue: Creation Arcade, 22/23 Duke Street, Dublin 2

Space is very limited so we would appreciate if you would RSVP to Eoin Collins
 
email eoin@glen.ie or tel.01 6728650

Venue: Creation Arcade, 22/23 Duke Street, Dublin 2

Please RSVP to international.affairs@dublincity.ie
 

Dublin City Public Library Screenings

As part Dublin City Council Social Inclusion Week, selected Dublin City Public Libraries will host school’s screenings of Abbi’s Circle and Burden of Proof.  The Irish Refugee Council’s school’s panel will give audiences the opportunity to deepend their engagement with the issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland.

Locating these screenings in Dublin City Libraries acknowledges the importance of stimulating dialogue about immigration and cultural difference in local spaces used and shared by cross-sections of the community. For more information about Social Inclusion Week, please go to: (http://www.dublin.ie/dcdb/social-inclusion-week-2011.htm)

Venue & Date:

Wednesday 4th May in Coolock Library

Thursday 5th May in Walkinstown Library

Friday 6th May in Central Library, 10.30-11.30am

Venue: Creation Arcade, 22/23 Duke Street, Dublin 2

Please note it is necessary to contact FOMACS in advance to register for this event.

Contact:   Maeve Burke or Ann Nolan

Tel:          (01) 402 3006

Email:      info.fomacs@dit.ie

The British Council and Dublin City Council are delighted to announce the call for entries for its ‘Sounds of the City’ competition. We invite sound artists, musicians, and composers to produce a soundscape for Dublin city, connecting listeners to the city’s acoustic richness through musical or audio compositions that evoke the everyday sounds and voices of urban spaces.

At a special prize-giving ceremony, the overall winner will receive a prize to the value of €500 courtesy of the British Council. A selection of entries will feature in a showcase event mapping the musicality of city spaces across Dublin. 

Entries should be submitted online in high quality MP3 format no later than 12 noon, 11 May, 2011. For terms and conditions, competition entry and further details go to www.opencitiesdublin.net

OPENCities is a British Council project in partnership with Dublin City Council and cities around the world, and is programmed and curated by FOMACS. Through a series of creative explorations, including photography and sound, OPENCities asks what constitutes an ‘open city’ and how a city can benefit from becoming more open to diverse populations.

The diverse OPENCities programme includes OPENCities FACES, an exhibition of the work of eight outstanding photographers from across Europe, including Dublin based Veronica Vierin, and a series of discussions focusing on Dublin’s internationalization agenda in the old Creation Arcade on Dublin’s Duke Street 26 April – 05 May.

For more information on the OPENCities Dublin project and events, go to: www.opencitiesdublin.net

For further information on the OPENCities global project, go to: www.opencities.eu

A photographic and life history project, A Sikh Face in Ireland, will open at the Tower Museum on Thursday the 24th March at 10am.

This multimedia exhibition is produced and supported by Dublin based FOMACS (Forum on Migration and Communications), members of the Irish Sikh Council, in collaboration with photographer/oral historian, Dr Glenn Jordan, and researcher, Satwinder Singh.

A Sikh Face in Ireland is the first systematic exploration of the Sikh presence on the island of Ireland ‐providing both a profile of the present and a social and cultural history of Sikh immigrants and their descendants

Following their participation in the 2010 ‘Moving Worlds: Cinemas of Migration’ film festival, we are delighted to welcome back members from Refugee Youth to Dublin. This visit offers a unique opportunity to learn about an organisation that supports young refugees living in London to develop and lead their own advocacy and creative projects.  One such ‘action catalyst’ initiative is ‘Refuge in Film’ - a youth led film festival held annually at the British Film Institute in London and featuring a film programme curated exclusively by its young members. The festival is thematically organised around refugee and migration issues, offering an inspiring example of young people engineering a platform to, in their words, ‘catapult our own ideas and views’.  

In collaboration with the Irish Refugee Council

Venue:        Centre for Creative Practices, 15 Pembroke Street Lower, Dublin 2
Time:          5-7pm
 
Please note it is necessary to contact FOMACS in advance to register. 
tel: (01) 402 3006, or email info.fomacs@dit.ie    

Roundtable with ManiFesta: developing, producing and managing media projects with young people.

Media literacy: a luxury or necessity? How can youth media participation challenge barriers associated with social and educational advantage? How are young people adapting and using new media technologies? What forms of media literacy are being practiced by youth cultures that have migrated or are living in communities in which a wide range of cultures mix and cross-fertilise? How can media be used as a tool for young people to be the creators and producers of their own messages?
 
These are just some of the questions that this roundtable articulates to a selection of film and video projects developed by ManiFesta, before opening out into a broader conversation about cultural belonging and social justice, and the learning objectives of involving young people in participatory creative media projects from production through to curatorial phases.
 
ManiFesta develop, produce and manage projects - using predominantly film and video – to explore and comment on key contemporary social issues. Selected excerpts from three creative projects will serve to introduce their work to audiences here:
 

• Belonging is a transnational based initiative in which young people from culturally mixed backgrounds - in London/Newham, Lisbon suburb/Casal da Boba and Paris/20th arrondissement - worked under the tutelage of creative video artists and filmmakers to produce 43 short films exploring various aspects of belonging – how layered migrations shape communities, and how young people manage multiple, flexible identities while belonging to more than one place.

• In Video ART Postcards, assisted by video artists and historians, participants uncovered sites related to historical racism and anti-racism in the West India Docks area of London and used digital media to creatively express their interpretations of this history and heritage.  At the end of the 5-day workshops, each young participant had produced a personal short video, or 'postcard', informed by their workshop learning.

• In Breaking into the Museum, each young participant produced a short film that responded to a particular object in the Galleries of London collection. This media led project promotes innovative intervention in heritage curating as an exciting form of 21st century cultural activism and engagement, while the 14 films produced provide a slate of challenging statements from young people aged 16 to 19 and from a diversity of cultural backgrounds – reflecting how they connect with ‘official’ history and heritage, as well as how they experience museum collections.

 
ManiFesta was founded by Colin Prescod and Marion Vargaftig, who together have developed and produced UK and international initiatives with the BBC, the International Broadcasting Trust, Save the Children, Separated Children in Europe Network, Runnymede, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and other NGOs in the field of youth, creativity, cultural diversity and anti-racism.
 
After a twenty year career as an academic, Colin joined the BBC in 1989 and is currently Chair of the Institute of Race Relations, London, (and is a member of the editorial working committee of the IRR's international journal, Race and Class); Chair of the Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art (ACAVA), London; and Chair of Carnival Village Ltd, London.
 
Marion Vargaftig  is a leader/producer of European programmes and media projects, working at the interface of policy and practice. Her expertise is in developing projects associating media and culture as a catalyst for social change. She has a particular expertise in film and television - and has extensive international experience, initiating and delivering projects ranging from conferences, exhibitions, films, publications in many EU countries and beyond, and involving a variety of partners and funders.
 
Introduction:           Áine O’Brien, Director of FOMACS
Presentation:          Colin Prescod and Marion Vargaftig, Co-Directors of ManiFesta
Respondents:          Niamh Geoghegan, Young Urban Arts, Programme Co-ordinator
                                Gráinne Lord, City of Dublin Youth Services Board, Arts Officer
                                Jennifer Siung, Chester Beatty Library, Head of Education
                      
Venue:                    Chester Beatty Library
Time:                      11am - 3pm
 
Please note it is necessary to contact FOMACS in advance to register. 
tel: (01) 402 3006, or email info.fomacs@dit.ie

The film was made in conjunction with FOMACS and the Irish Refugee Council and premiered in Dublin on 18 June as part of a European-wide series of events marking World Refugee Day. The animation will have an accompanying information guide and will serve as an educational tool to reach different audiences, including primary and secondary schools; and NGO outreach and community-led programmes.

January 18, 2011:  Kino Moviemento, Berlin- Kreuzberg, Germany.

January 19, 2011: Kino Xenon, Kolonnenstr. 5-6, Berlin Schöneberg, Germany.

The Flat Lake Literary and Arts Festival, June 4 - 6, 2010. Monaghan, Ireland.

Date: Tuesday 15th February 2011

Time: 8:00pm

Abbi’s Circle, a three-part animation series about family reunification and Burden of Proof, a short animated documentary about Ireland’s asylum system and its relationship to the historical context for the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees screened both in and outside school hours to children in the following Dublin City Public Libraries:

Ballymun Library, December 2 and 16, 2.30pm

Cabra Library, December 15 and 21, 3.00pm

Central Library, December 2, 10.30am.

Charleville Mall, December 7, 3.30pm

Coolock Library, December 8 and 15, 3.30pm

Pearse St., Daily at 3pm

Walkinstown Library, December 6, 3.30pm and 7 pm

11th EASA Biennial Conference, NUI Maynooth, 24 -27 August.

'A Sikh Face in Ireland' is a photographic and life history project exploring the Sikh presence on the island of Ireland.

It is produced and supported by the Forum on Migration and Communications (www.fomacs.org) in collaboration with photographer/oral historian, Glenn Jordan, and researcher, Satwinder Singh.

The exhibition will open to the public on 7 May and will run alongside a series of events designed in collaboration with the Chester Beatty Intercultural Programme. The educational programme builds on different objects in the exhibition: photographic portraits accompanied by life stories; a film on the wearing of the Sikh turban; a photographic and sound installation featuring contemporary Sikh musicians; an exhibition catalogue comprising essays, photographs, and extensive life stories in English and Punjabi; an interactive website designed for use in diverse educational settings.

A new FOMACS/OFI initiative screening diverse stories of migration - commissioned and produced by FOMACS - to create cross-cultural dialogue within local areas of the city. A programme of events, screenings and workshops will take place across Dublin city throughout November and December 2010 to mark the introductory phase of this year-long joint initiative between FOMACS and the OFI. 

Asylum Monologues: Sanctuary

Sanctuary is a series of ultra-short monologues of under one minute duration in which the stories of people who have sought asylum and received refuge in Ireland are recounted on screen and through live performance by Irish based actors and writers.
 
‘Storytellers of Ireland’ (STI) and FOMACS in association with the Irish Refugee Council will present Sanctuary as part of ‘Storytelling Beyond Borders’ – a free public event organized by STI with the assistance of The Arts Council.

Venue: The Irish Writer’s Centre

Time & Date: Saturday, November 27 2010, 2-5 p.m.

A new FOMACS/OFI initiative screening diverse stories of migration - commissioned and produced by FOMACS - to create cross-cultural dialogue within local areas of the city. A programme of events, screenings and workshops will take place across Dublin city throughout November and December 2010 to mark the introductory phase of this year-long joint initiative between FOMACS and the OFI.

Asylum Monologues: Sanctuary

FOMACS in association with ‘Storytellers of Ireland’ and the Irish Refugee Council will present Sanctuary as part of a schools’ anti-racism programme aimed at developing the young person’s emotional and intellectual engagement with stories of asylum. In a series of intensive workshops, Sanctuary project partners will collaborate with secondary school teachers and students in the design of an educational programme aimed at encouraging students to act as producers and advocates of stories of asylum through creative writing and storytelling.

'Moving Worlds’ - a film festival collaboration between FOMACS, EUNIC (European Union National Institutes of Culture) and the IFI (Irish Film Institute) - screens films on migration and social justice, reaching out to established and new audiences.  
 
Alongside the curated programme of screenings, a series of master classes led by filmmakers will highlight the politics of research, production and the creative process of putting a human face on social issues related to migration and social justice.

Additionally, Howard Pyle (Senior Partner and Global Director of Digital Platforms - Ogilvy & Maher, New York), will occupy a residency for the duration of the festival to assist filmmakers and workshop participants in the use of social media to maximize the impact of their films and creative media. A series of ‘Youth Media’ workshops will also be held throughout the festival. 
  


Venue: IFI, 6 Eustace St., Dublin 2


Time & Date: December 8-11,
        

You can access the full Film Festival Catalogue here

A programme of events, screenings and workshops will take place across Dublin city throughout November and December 2010 to mark the introductory phase of this year-long joint initiative between FOMACS and the Office For Integration. 

The co-directors of the film will be joined by members of Dublin’s Filipino community for a post-screening discussion. In addition, there will be a Saturday matinee for migrant and Irish born youth audiences. 

Venue:             City Arts, 15 Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1.

Time & Date:    Friday 12 November, 7 p.m. and Saturday 13 November, 2.30 p.m.

Admission:       Free

For enquiries please contact 'Crossing Cultures' Curator, Aileen Blaney: aileenfomacs@gmail.com / (01) 402 7126

A short DVD titled 'Belonging' produced by FOMACS and the ICI was launched today at the ICI "Diverse Views on Diversity" Conference.

This DVD project took place across two weekends, working with photography, video and music offering young people a platform to express and reflect on what it means to be 'Irish' and 'what' and 'who' is counted as being 'Irish' today. The media acted as a catalyst for collective discussion about group and individual identities, friendships, the notion of community and family.

Play the video here 

'Sanctuary' Screening and Performance on Culture Night, 24th September 2010

As part of Culture Night, Friday September 24^th, 2010, FOMACS in association with Storytellers of Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council, will present 'Sanctuary' – a series of ultra-short monologues in which the stories of people who have sought asylum and received refuge in Ireland are recounted on screen and through live performance by Irish based actors and writers. 

From George Seremba’s extraordinary story of escaping death in Milton Obote’s Uganda, told by the actor himself, to the stories of unaccompanied minors forced into exile, those stuck in legal limbo in the asylum system, and of people triumphing over huge odds to make new lives in Ireland, 'Sanctuary' tells stories of loss, survival, tragedy and perseverance.

'Sanctuary' stars include Sebastian Barry, Marian Keyes, Mick Lally, Eileen Walsh, Yomi Ogunyemi, Donna Nikolaisen and Lorna Quinn among other leading performers and writers, some of whom will be present to deliver selected monologues and engage alongside the Irish Refugee Council in a follow up discussion with members of the audience.

Date: 24 September 2010

Venue:  The Gaiety School of Acting, Sycamore Street, Dublin 2

* Additionally, selected excerpts from 'Sanctuary' will be screened prior to one or more of the feature films to be screened in Meeting House Square.

Time: 7.30pm - 9pm

‘Sanctuary' travels to public venues and classrooms across Ireland and is produced by FOMACS in solidarity with Ice and Fire Theatre Company, UK. The 'Sanctuary' project combines screenings of monologues with live performance, in addition to input from advocates at the Irish Refugee Council. Should you wish to find out more about this traveling show and book it for your organisation, please contact, Aileen Blaney, FOMACS Exhibitions Programmer at 4027126; or email: aileenfomacs@gmail.com  

FOMACS/BRITISH COUNCIL: PUBLIC INTERVIEW with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown



Friday, 24 September 2010
, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm



We are pleased to invite you to a public interview with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, UK based broadcast journalist, writer and public speaker on race and cultural identities. Susan McKay, Director of the National Women’s Council will conduct the interview.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is visiting Dublin to participate in a FOMACS/British Council public education project, titled Learning Lab: Identities and Social Justice.  For more on Learning Lab see: www.learninglab.ie

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown came to the UK in 1972 from Uganda after completing her undergraduate degree at Makerere University where she was awarded an exceptional first class degree in English. She went to Oxford as a postgraduate student and was awarded an M.Phil in literature in 1975. She is a journalist who has written for The Guardian, Observer, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Evening Standard, The Mail and other newspapers and is a regular columnist on The Independent and London's Evening Standard. She is also a radio and television broadcaster and author of No Place Like Home, an autobiographical account of a twice-removed immigrant. From 1996 to 2001 she was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, and published True Colours on the role of government on racial attitudes. Yasmin is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre. In 2000 she published Who Do We Think We Are? -  an acclaimed book on the state of the British nation, in addition to After Multiculturalism which looks at the globalised future. She advises various key institutions on race matters. In June 1999, she received an honorary degree from the Open University for her contributions to social justice. In 2001 came the publication of the paperback Mixed Feelings a book on mixed race Britons.

In 2001 she was appointed an MBE for services to journalism in the New Year's honours list. In 2003 she returned her MBE as a protest against the new imperial and illegal war in Iraq. In April 2004, her film on Islam for Channel 4 won an award and in May 2004, she received the EMMA award for best print journalist for her columns in the Independent. Her new book, The Settler’s Cookbook: A Memoir of Love, Migration and Food was published in the spring of 2009 and was book of the week on BBC Radio4.



Venue: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle


Date: Friday, 24 September 2010


Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm



For more information and to RSVP for this event, please contact: Ann Nolan or Maeve Burke at email: info.fomacs@dit.ie or tel: 01 4023006 by 12pm Thursday, 23 September 2010

Introduction: Gerry Folan, Head, Office for Integration, Dublin City Council

Presentation: Liz Fekete, Deputy Director of Institute of Race Relations, London; Editor of European Race Bulletin and Alternative Voices on Integration.

Respondents: Denise Charlton, Director of Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI); Sue Conlon, Director of Irish Refugee Council (IRC); Salome Mbugua, Director of AkiDwA

Guest Respondent: Yasmin Alibhai Browne, UK-based broadcast journalist, writer and public speaker on race and cultural identities; Lab Leader for FOMACS/British Council Learning Lab: Identities and Social Justice.

Chair: Áine O’Brien, Director of Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS)

What do minority organisations, refugees and migrants in Europe think about the debate on integration? Is it a debate that stigmatizes and humiliates ethnic minorities, or one where institutionalized racism is adequately addressed?

This roundtable will present the research conducted by the Institute of Race Relations, UK in their recent publication Alternative Voices on Integration, drawing from studies with a range of grassroots migrant organisations. Over the last year, the IRR's European Race Audit has been identifying alternative voices on integration, in five European countries.

Alternative Voices on Integration is packed with factual information about the denial of civil rights in the five countries studied. Interviews and news stories are set against policy summaries from each country on integration policy, national action plans on racism, anti-discrimination measures, asylum policies, regularisation processes and changes to citizenship laws. Together the grassroots perspectives and policy summaries reveal the real levels of racism, discrimination, exclusion and human rights abuses faced by European Muslim citizens, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in Europe.

Time: 2.30pm - 4.30pm,

Venue:  Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8.

RSVP:  Ailbhe Bennett, Immigrant Council of Ireland 

The film’s inclusion in the programme has been supported by the Embassy of Ireland, Tel Aviv.

‘Promise and Unrest’ will be screened alongside ‘I’m Not a Philippina’ (2010, 51 min), directed by Anat Tel, both films drawing attention to the rights and conditions of the children of migrant workers.

Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival in collaboration with the Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS) present a one day symposium, ‘Lost and Found in Translation’, addressing themes of cultural translation and the creative impact of migration, together with the role and responsibilities of artists and arts organisations in highlighting questions of social justice and equality.

Our title is drawn from Polish writer Eva Hoffman’s autobiography, Lost in Translation. For Hoffman, migration signals a profound sense of cultural and linguistic exile: ‘The words I learn now don’t stand for things in the same unquestioned way they did in my native tongue’. Yet Hoffman eventually learns to balance the ‘relativity of cultural meanings on [her] skin’ – so much so that she describes how English ‘entered my body, has incorporated itself in the softest tissue of my being’.

By adding Found to the title we explore both the losses and gains that result from the act of migration – conceived as an ongoing process marked by journeys and dislocations across languages, geographies, identities and social landscapes.  Through open discussion and performance the programme forges a link between theatre practice and the pursuit of 'social justice'.

As an organising thematic for the symposium, ‘cultural translation’ involves complex negotiations of power – personal, institutional, national and international. How, then, can cultural translation, enacted through performance enable the expression of emergent critical voices and generate new content and audiences?

We bring you a range of cross-cultural contributions from actors, critics, theatre and art directors, writers, and curators, who will participate in debate on the day, offering provocative ways of producing/performing/programming work across theatre and the creative arts. 

We will present a special lunch time performance featuring Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in her one woman show ‘Nowhere to Belong: Tales of an Extravagant Stranger’.  Please indicate at the time of registration if you would like to attend the show. There will also be a discounted lunch, provided by the Silk Road Café.

You can view the programme here

If you would like to register for this event please contact Maeve Burke or Ann Nolan on 01-4023006 or email info.fomacs@dit.ie

Venue:  City Wall Space, Wood Quay Venue, Civic Offices

Date :  October 16 2010

Time :  10am - 5pm

Fee :  Free but advance registration is required (Please see contact details above)

DMZ Docs will introduce the best documentaries to international audiences through the DMZ, the symbol of ‘peace’ and ‘life’.

It will also be screened in competition at the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) October 21-28, 2010.

The San Diego Asian Film Foundation is one of the largest media arts organizations in North America that focuses on Asian American and Asian international cinema.

Extension of 'A Sikh Face in Ireland' exhibition - 5 September 2010 and Programming of FOMACS Educational workshops.

Photography and life history project ‘A Sikh Face in Ireland’ has been an enormous success, so much so that the Chester Beatty has extended its run until 5 September 2010. Go see it if you haven’t already and read the comments book to  discover first-hand how the exhibition has made an impact on audiences in Dublin, across the island of Ireland and beyond.

Since the launch on 7 May 2010, FOMACS has collaborated with the Chester Beatty Library Intercultural Education programme and the Sikh Council of Ireland to run workshops as part of Bealtaine and Family Day.

On July 06 07 and 08 we ran a series of cross-generational workshops with young Sikh adults, teenagers and children to hear their voices and perspectives on a range of issues including cultural identity, the importance of accessing mainstream representation and creative arts spaces, together with concrete and positive ways to address and redress racism and discrimination.

The Sikh Face in Ireland education project facilitated young members of the Sikh community to reflect on and contribute to the photographic and life history project at the Chester Beatty Library. Each group participated in an interactive and media-led workshop whose culmination will be available soon via a dedicated website in the following formats:

A case study of ‘A Sikh Face in Ireland’ will also form the basis for a publication locating the place of the museum as a catalyst for public conversations about diversity, transcultural learning and the participation and contribution of new audiences.

Coming soon is a FOMACS interview with Jenny Siung, Head of Education, Chester Beatty Library, in relation to ‘the museum collection, storytelling and intercultural dialogue’, focusing on a range of initiatives, pioneered for the last decade, at the Chester Beatty Library.

'A Sikh Face in Ireland' is produced and supported by the Forum on Migration and Communications in collaboration with photographer/oral historian, Glenn Jordan, and researcher, Satwinder Singh.

From George Seremba's extraordinary story of escaping death in Milton Obote's Uganda, told by the actor himself, to the stories of unaccompanied minors forced into exile, those stuck in legal limbo in the asylum system, and of people triumphing over huge odds to make new lives in Ireland, 'Sanctuary's' stories of loss, survival, tragedy and perseverance contribute to Faith Space’s running theme of compassion.   

'Sanctuary' stars Sebastian Barry, Marian Keyes, Mick Lally, Eileen Walsh, Aidan Kelly, and other leading performers and writers, some of whom will be present to perform to and interact with audiences.

Dr. Brenda Flanagan, a US  cultural ambassador, writer and Edward Armfield Professor of English at Davidson College, North Carolina will also be participating in this storytelling event.

Date: 24 July 2010 Festival of Cultures

Time: 4pm -5pm

Venue: Faith Space

Location: Global Village, Carlisle Pier, Dún Laoghaire

FOMACS (the Forum on Migration and Communications) ran a training course with Róisín Boyd for 6 women who wanted to make radio programmes: Abiba Ndelay, Gladys Atsenokhai, Lauretta Ibosonu, Marsha Dunne, Neltah Chadamoyo and Vanessa Ogida.

This programme features extracts from the short documentaries made by five of the women (Neltah's appeared in an earlier 'Curious Ear', "Neltah Tells A Love Story")

We invite you to participate in a lively discussion about the dynamic potential of documentary film and social media in building social justice campaigns. How can documentary films from their development through to distribution engage diverse audiences? How can social media facilitate a move beyond one-way broadcasts, mobilizing audiences as participants, advocates and storytellers? Drawing on screenings, film excerpts and case studies from a range of creative and cultural contexts, these questions will be explored by an outstanding panel of international filmmakers, producers and communications specialists situated in the USA, South Africa and Britain.

Participants to include: Francois Verster, Director of Undercurrent Film & Television, South Africa; Ellen Schneider, Director of Active Voice, USA; Howard Pyle, Global Director of Digital Platforms, Ogilvy & Mather, USA; Sarah Mosses, Good Screenings Producer, Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, UK.

Download the programme for the symposium from the right side of this page.

A Sikh Face in Ireland Family Day with FOMACS and the Chester Beatty Library.  

Celebrate this photographic exhibition with a variety of activities exploring Sikh culture. 

There will be a gallery trail, activities for families as well as music, dance and a martial arts performance.

Date: 29 May 2010

Time:  2-4pm

Venue: Chester Beatty Library

Please book online at www.cbl.ie from Monday 24 May from 9.30am

The Chester Beatty Library and FOMACS would like to thank the Irish Sikh Council for their support.

There will be a public interview with Handel Wright, David Lam Chair of Multicultural Education and Director of the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education, University of British Columbia, Canada.

Mica Nava, Professor of Cultural Studies and Co-director of the Centre for Cultural Studies Research, University of East London, will conduct the interview.

Handel Wright is visiting Dublin to participate in a FOMACS/British Council public education project, titled Learning Lab: Identities and Social Justice.  For more on Learning Lab see: www.learninglab.ie

Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, Handel Wright did his graduate studies in Canada (MA English, University of Windsor; MEd, Queen’s University; PhD Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto). Handel then moved to the United States where he taught courses in cultural studies, multicultural education, qualitative research and service learning at the University of Tennessee. His primary activist and progressive community organising work is with the Highlander Research and Education Centre in Tennessee, serving as Coordinator of the Personnel Committee and on the Executive Committee of the active working Board of Directors.

Handel’s current research includes comparative examinations of forms of representation (comparative multiculturalism and interculturalism) and identity formation (new youth identities) as well as explorations of the politics of research based on identity and social justice.

Venue: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle

Date: Friday, 28 May 2010

Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm

For more information and to RSVP for this event, please contact: Ann Nolan or Maeve Burke at email: info.fomacs@dit.ie or tel: 01 4023006 by 12pm Thursday, 27 May 2010

FOMACS/BRITISH COUNCIL: PUBLIC INTERVIEW with ANDREA DURBACH

There will be a public interview with Andrea Durbach, Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia.

Venue: Radisson BLU Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8            

Date: Friday, 16 April 2010               

Time: 12.50pm - 1.50pm

In order to attend this event it is neccessary to RSVP by Wednesday the 14th of April. For more information, please contact: Maeve Burke or Ann Nolan at FOMACS DIT Aungier st Tel: 01 4023006 or email: maeve.burke@dit.ie

Mary Fitzgerald, Foreign Affairs Correspondent for the Irish Times, will conduct the interview.  

Andrea Durbach is visiting Dublin to participate in a FOMACS/BritishCouncil public education project in association with Instituto Cervantes, titled Learning Lab: identities and Social Justice.

Currently living in Sydney but originally from South Africa, Andrea Durbach is best known for her public interest law work. Her book 'Upington' (2002) reflects on her experience of when in 1988 she was appointed solicitor to 25 black defendants in a notorious death penalty case in South Africa.

Andrea’s research and teaching focuses on access to justice and public interest litigation, in addition to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights, with a particular focus on health. She is also involved in facilitating reparations for Indigenous victims of Australia’s forced removal and assimilation policies (the Stolen Generations), and the role and impact of national human rights institutions in the Asia Pacific region.

The public interview and conversation between Andrea Durbach and Mary Fitzgerald will be held at the PILA (Public Interest Law Alliance) symposium Public interest law in action – using the law to face current challenges.

'A Sikh Face in Ireland' is a photographic and life history project exploring the Sikh presence on the island of Ireland.

It is produced and supported by the Forum on Migration and Communications (www.fomacs.org) in collaboration with photographer/oral historian, Glenn Jordan, and researcher, Satwinder Singh.

The exhibition will open to the public on 7 May and will run alongside a series of events designed in collaboration with the Chester Beatty Intercultural Programme. The educational programme builds on different objects in the exhibition: photographic portraits accompanied by life stories; a film on the wearing of the Sikh turban; a photographic and sound installation featuring contemporary Sikh musicians; an exhibition catalogue comprising essays, photographs, and extensive life stories in English and Punjabi; an interactive website designed for use in diverse educational settings.

The idea for Learning Lab stems from an understanding that ‘transformative education’ initiatives allow for communities of learners to emerge in a space outside the academy and within civil society.

The Learning Lab ‘Identities and Social Justice’ opens a space for a focused discussion on the theme of identities aligned with the concept of social justice. Learning Lab bridges debates about cultural identity with principles of social equality – connecting questions about race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, gender, culture, language and religion, in addition to youth and age.

Building on the combined work of FOMACS and the British Council, Learning Lab forges a collaboration that recognizes the complimentary interests of each partner, drawing on a range of resources and established cultural, social and political networks on the island of Ireland and beyond. Learning Lab works in association with Instituto Cervantes.

The idea for Learning Lab stems from an understanding that ‘transformative education’ initiatives allow for communities of learners to emerge in a space outside the academy and within civil society.

The Learning Lab ‘Identities and Social Justice’ opens a space for a focused discussion on the theme of identities aligned with the concept of social justice. Learning Lab bridges debates about cultural identity with principles of social equality – connecting questions about race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, gender, culture, language and religion, in addition to youth and age.

Building on the combined work of FOMACS and the British Council, Learning Lab forges a collaboration that recognizes the complimentary interests of each partner, drawing on a range of resources and established cultural, social and political networks on the island of Ireland and beyond. Learning Lab works in association with Instituto Cervantes.

The idea for Learning Lab stems from an understanding that ‘transformative education’ initiatives allow for communities of learners to emerge in a space outside the academy and within civil society.

The Learning Lab ‘Identities and Social Justice’ opens a space for a focused discussion on the theme of identities aligned with the concept of social justice. Learning Lab bridges debates about cultural identity with principles of social equality – connecting questions about race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, gender, culture, language and religion, in addition to youth and age.

Building on the combined work of FOMACS and the British Council, Learning Lab forges a collaboration that recognizes the complimentary interests of each partner, drawing on a range of resources and established cultural, social and political networks on the island of Ireland and beyond. Learning Lab works in association with Instituto Cervantes.

According to The Curious Ear:

In this programme, Neltah tells the engaging story of her sister and a man named Taurai. Taurai and Melody grew up in Zimbabwe. Taurai was born albino and was taunted in the street because of it. When he first asked Melody out, she refused but her cousin 'blackmailed' her into accepting. She fell in love with him. Melody shared in the abuse Taurai received for being different. They also shared a life of laughs, cooking and gardening. They came to Ireland and had a daughter, Siobhán. Then, in 2008, Melody and Siobhán lost Taurai. In this story, Neltah hears from her family about their love and loss.

This programme was researched and crafted in the context of a FOMACS' radio mentoring programme Having Your Voice Heard, supported by the 'Migrants and the Media' project under EPIM and co-ordinated/produced by Roísín Boyd, a radio journalist working with FOMACS’ partner, the Irish Refugee Council. 

You can access the story here

FOMACS will alert you to more radio stories created within the Having your Voice Heard mentoring programme and soon to be broadcast on The Curious Ear.

The film tells the story of Noemi Barredo, who was separated from her infant daughter, Gracelle, when she left the Philippines for work in Malaysia, in order to support her parents and extended family. Barredo subsequently arrived in Ireland to work in 2000.  According to the filmmakers, Promise and Unrest is an intimate portrayal of a migrant woman performing care giving and long-distance motherhood, while assuming the responsibility of sole provider for her family back in the Philippines. Dublin may be a long way from Noemi’s hometown of Babatngon, yet she retains a sharp eye on the welfare of her family, attentive to a range of small businesses she has financed, and paying for the education of her daughter and son, medication for her terminally ill father and her sister’s nursing degree. The film observes the everyday intricacies of Noemi and Gracelle’s relationship, their subsequent reunion in Ireland and the beginnings of a domestic life together in the same country for the first time. Promise and Unrest unravels a familiar yet subtle migration story of maternal sacrifice, loss and love, yet to be seen in Irish cinema. It was filmed over a five-year period.

Ronan Kelly (RTÉ) to work with Roisín Boyd (Mentor on ‘Having your Voice Heard) to edit stories for broadcast.

Produced by Colin Murphy for FOMACS, the 20-minute version of Candidates is available as a podcast on RTE Choice and an eight-minute version will be broadcast on The Curious Ear on RTE Radio One at 6.45pm on December 5. 

In May 2009, Colin Murphy hit the roads of Ireland on the campaign trail with some of the 40 immigrants who ran in the local elections. In Dublin, Limerick, Monaghan and Donegal, he talked to candidates and the people they were canvassing about the issues and the practicalities of local politics in Ireland. From Patrick Maphoso's activist independent politics on Dublin's northside to Anna Rooney's staunch support for the Government in Clones, this project charts the diversity of experience and opinion amongst an emerging group of politicians.

FOMACS has just released a DVD and booklet package, 'Undocumented in Ireland: Our Stories'.

It comprises documentation and commentary on the stories produced in the ‘Undocumented in Ireland: Our Stories’ Workshop, which was the result of a collaboration between FOMACS and the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI)

Screening before main features at the Irish Film Institute throughout December, Sanctuary is a collection of stories of people seeking asylum in Ireland.

In 26 ultra-short monologues, all less than one minute long, people who have sought asylum and received refuge in Ireland tell their stories – in their own words, but performed by actors and writers living in Ireland.

Directed by Barrie Dowdall, Sanctuary stars Sebastian Barry, Marian Keyes, Mick Lally, Eileen Walsh, Aidan Kelly, and other leading performers and writers.

Sanctuary will travel to cinemas across Ireland in 2010. Produced by FOMACS in solidarity with Ice and Fire Theatre Company, UK

FOMACS’ radio mentoring project ‘Having Your Voice Heard’ was presented at the EPIM project in Athens.

Roisin Boyd and Áine O’Brien presented the FOMACS’ radio mentoring project ’Having your Voice Heard’ at the recent EPIM ‘Migrants and the Media ‘ meeting in Athens, Greece - along with partners from the UK (Migrant Resource Centre and Migrant Rights Network, UK); Spain (CEPIM); Hungary (Menedék); and Athens (DESME).

FOMACS’ Two-day Workshop on Public Opinion Research

FOMACS’ partner, Frank Sharry - Director of America’s Voice, Washington DC, returned to participate in a two-day workshop on methodologies and practices of public opinion research. Collaborating partners included: ICI, RIS, II, IRC and MRCI, in addition to FLAC and MarriagEquality.

FOMACS' New Beginnings will be screened in the upcoming 5^th Annual Children's Film Festival Seattle, 22-31 January 2010.

On Thursday 8 October, the FOMACS collaborative digital storytelling project
'Living in Direct Provision: Our Stories' was screened at the Diversity
Evening in the Whitaker Theatre, Dundalk Institute of Technology.

FOMACS has been chosen as the Irish national coordinator for Yeff! (Young European Filmmakers Forum).   

Yeff! offers a forum where young people from all over Europe meet and present their films on cultural diversity issues. Yeff! aims to promote youth involvement in modern media.
The network consists of partners in more than 10 European countries and is constantly growing. Every two years a Yeff! film forum takes place in a different European city. Young people from all over Europe are asked to produce films on the topic of cultural diversity and to present their work at the Yeff! forum. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their images in modern media, to learn how to represent their own realities and to present their visions to a broader public. 

Love Music Hate Racism was set up in 2002 in the UK in response to the rise of the British National Party (BNP), to use 'the positive energy of the music scene to fight back' against racism. Now, Love Music Hate Racism is launching in Ireland, with a launch party on Thursday July 23 at The Twisted Pepper, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin (see FOMACS’ Migration Matters for more).

Abbi’s Circle was screened in the Romanian Cultural Institute’s Irish Film Festival in Bucharest on the 17th September along with 7 other Irish short films. The festival also screened Irish language films including Cre ne Cille and Cinegael Paradiso.

The Galway Junior Film Fleadh takes place between the 11th and 14th of November.  Team Spirit and New Beginnings will be screened as part of the shorts program on the 12th of November at 1:45pm in the Town Hall Theatre.

An article about the Abbi's Circle Series, and the accompanying Teaching Packs is forthcoming in the November issue of Film Ireland in the education section.

Collaborating partner, Frank Sharry, returned to FOMACS to run a series of strategy workshops with FOMACS' NGO partners. The workshops ran over the course of a week and moved on from previous workshops on media spokesperson training to focus on strategy sessions. Topics included: how to build communication campaigns around  ‘anti-trafficking’ and ‘citizenship’ with the Immigrant Council of Ireland; campaign and communications strategy on the regularisation of undocumented migrant workers with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland; and communications issues in relation to the newly merged organisations, Integrating Ireland and the Refugee Information Service.  

The course is designed to introduce participants to the fundamentals of radio journalism in the context of the short documentary genre. For more information, visit the project page here

Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences at UCLA) visited FOMACS and the Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice to discuss shared research interests and comparative stratagies in the field of migration, education and youth cultures.  Professor Orellana presented research from her forthcoming book Translating Childhoods: Immigrant Youth, Language and Culture (London: Routledge, 2009) Please see the synopsis below:

Skilled in two vernaculars, children shoulder basic and more complicated verbal exchanges for non-English speaking adults. Readers hear, through children's own words, what it means be 'in the middle' or the 'keys to communication' that adults otherwise would lack. Drawing from ethnographic data and research in three immigrant communities, Marjorie Faulstich Orellana's study expands the definition of child labor by assessing children's roles as translators as part of a cost equation in an era of global restructuring and considers how sociocultural learning and development is shaped as a result of children's contributions as translators.

These digital stories were made in the context of a six-month (2008-9) participatory media workshop run by FOMACS, in partnership with Integrating Ireland and Refugee Information Services.

The nine storytellers participated in a collaborative process that integrated storytelling, group and individual reflection, creative writing, photography and the use of multi-media technologies, in order to make a 3-5 min story about their own experiences as asylum seekers and refugees.

FOMACS hosted a weeklong facilitator training, digital storytelling workshop. Visiting workshop facilitators and trainers included, Daniel Wenshenker, Special Projects and Denver Office Director, Center for Digital Storytelling, and Jennifer LaFontaine in addition to Darcy Alexandra, FOMACS digital storytelling coordinator. 

This workshop explored the principles, methods, software tools, aesthetic considerations, ethical dilemmas, and curriculum issues that facilitators must consider when teaching or assisting with the digital storytelling process in their own environments.

Participants in the facilitation training included individuals from partner organisations in FOMACS: the Irish Refugee Council, Migrant Rights Centre, Integrating Ireland in addition to participants from the previous digital storytelling, ‘Living in Direct Provision’, workshop.

Siobhán Twomey (Media Content Manager) and Sarah Moylan (Project Coordinator) from FOMACS were invited to attend the Young European Film Forum for Cultural Diversity (YEFF!) networking event in Berlin.

Participants included:

• Filmcentrum Väst, Sweden (Johannes Moubis, Suzanne Nilsson, Pamela Erikkson)
  
• Kyrnéa, France (François Campana)
  
• GetBasic, Belgium (Greet Brauwers)
  
• dzmp, Slovenia (Tom Gomizelj)
  
• RAA Berlin, Germany (Britta Kollberg, Inga Pfafferott)
  
• ISMU, Italy (Mara Clementi)
  
• AllAboutUsFilmFactory, Netherlands (Anna Spohr, Siuli Ko)
  
• IHeartFilms, UK (Mervyn Smith)
  
• AoNorte, Portugal (Rui Bandeira Ramos)
  
• Muchomas, Spain (Carmen Buro Arbues)
  
• FOMACS, Ireland (Siobhán Twomey, Sarah Moylan)
  

In close collaboration with the Refugee Information Service and working from their case studies, Team Spirit continues the story of Abbi and her circle of friends, introducing us to Sadiq, a young convention refugee from Darfur. In this second installment of the animation series, the cast expands and yet retains a continuity of actors, while building a range of accents: Oyin Animashaun (Abbi); Lauren Murphy (Lucy); Ngor Tong (Sadiq); Yemi Adengua (Lillian); and Gabriel Peelo (Coach).

For more information please visit the project page.

These digital stories were made in the context of a six-month (2008-9) participatory media workshop run by FOMACS, in partnership with Integrating Ireland and Refugee Information Services.

The nine storytellers participated in a collaborative process that integrated storytelling, group and individual reflection, creative writing, photography and the use of multi-media technologies, in order to make a 3-5 min story about their own experiences as asylum seekers and refugees.

The screening will take place Saturday 13th June at 5pm in the Loch Altan Seminar Room. 

FOMACS presents the Abbi’s Circle animation project at the conference on Media Ethnographies at Leeds University 

FOMACS presented at the ‘Clandestino’ conference at the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre, London - conference organised by PICUM (Platform for International Cooperation for Undocumented Migrants), Brussels and COMPAS (Centre on Migration, Policy and Society) University of Oxford. The ‘Clandestino Research Project’ is funded by the European Commission Sixth Framework Programme – Priority 8. 

Melanie Friend, University of Sussex, UK presented a seminar on the politics of photographing and representing asylum detention centres in the UK in the Irish Film Institute. This seminar formed part of the 'Negotiated Identities, Histories and Public Cultures' Seminar series, hosted by the Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice

The presentation focused on photographic practices of representing the orderly landscapes and visiting rooms of Immigration Removal Centres, together with soundtracks of voice recordings conveying the complex identities of detainees and the physical, psychological and emotional aspects of life in detention. 

Katherine Goodnow, University of Bergen, Norway presented a seminar on curating and inclusion strategies in the Irish Film Institute. This seminar formed part of the ‘Negotiated Identities, Histories and Public Cultures’ Seminar series, hosted by the Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice

The presentation focused on forms of migrant, refugee and minority participation within museums and galleries, alongside issues surrounding access and participation with special attention to online gaming and interactive documentaries. 

This learning resource is the second publication to accompany the three-part animation series, Abbi’s Circle and follows on from the previous learning resource, The Memory Box. In this second publication the focus again on the issue of ‘family reunification’ with a specific emphasis on refugees and refugee families. A review of teaching resource written by Barbara O’Toole, Department of Inclusive Education, Marino College and published in March INTO magazine.

As Dr Matthias Fiedler, Executive Director of the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA) writes:

FOMACS’ second teaching pack ‘Team Spirit’ – developed and written by teachers for teachers – has all the ingredients of a great resource to teach about global and social justice issues. It employs an innovative approach to teaching by combining animated film with a well-written and structured teaching pack. It promotes critical engagement with a connected set of global issues such as refugees, child labour, people in exile, and family reunification. It provides insights into how to teach media literacy in primary classes and offers a rich source of materials for teachers who want to educate their pupils as global citizens.   

Publication of The Richness of Change DVD/booklet comprising a series of 10 (1 min) films highlighting the diversity of migrant voices, contributions in Ireland. The DVD and booklet is a result of collaboration between the Immigrant Council of Ireland and FOMACS, with journalist, Colin Murphy, as director. The DVD/booklet will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about migrants’ experiences and contributions to different sectors of Irish society and is particularly useful in a classroom or educational context. 

Frank Sharry, Director of America’s Voice returns to FOMACS to conduct a series of train-the-trainer workshops with partner NGOs. Three days of workshops were held with the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Refugee Information Services, Integrating Ireland, Irish Refugee Council and the Migrant Rights Centre - participating journalists included Richard Delevan, Frank Connolly and Emer Woodfull.

Continuation of FOMACS’ second digital storytelling workshop with Darcy Alexandra as teacher and coordinator in collaboration with Integrating Ireland and Refugee Information Services, with 13 participants living in Direct Provision centres from around the country.

Screening of FOMACS’ films - The Memory Box, Team Spirit and The Richness of Change - at Donegal Town Asylum Seeker Support Group AGM, 18 January 2009. FOMACS introduced by Niamh O’Sullivan, North East & Midlands Regional Outreach & Development Officer, Integrating Ireland

The incubator model provides a mentoring space for minority filmmakers, whereby experienced practitioners in the film industry guide participants from the process of the initial ‘idea stage’, through to scriptwriting, and, finally, to the pitching of their stories to prospective producers.

Ziv Naveh was joined by her colleague, Naftaly Gliksberg, Director of the Israeli Documentary Film Fund.

• Undertake concrete activities in relation to the media with the objective of stregthening the capacity to convey key messages about migrant interests in the media;

• Make use of both conventional and new media strategies to build platforms for migrants to make their own case directly to the public.

The second ‘Migrants and the Media’ network meeting is scheduled for March 2009.

Part II of Moving Worlds: Cinemas of Migration runs from 16 October – 20 November, 2008. In this second series, our programme once again includes a rich range of dramatic and documentary stories about migration: from the lived realities of family reunification, to cultural expressions produced within immigrant youth cultures, or the complex power relations associated with human trafficking, in addition to the comparative histories of labour migration within Europe, and more.

Moving Worlds is an initiative of the Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS, School of Media, Dublin Institute of Technology) in association with the Goethe-Institut Dublin, Instituto Cervantes, Alliance Française and the Austrian Embassy.

Admission is free and open to all: To reserve a place for the screenings, please contact series co-ordinator Dr Rashmi Sawhney at The Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice

To view the catalogue please look here.

Joe Lambert, Executive Director of the Centre for Digital Storytelling, Berkley, California visited FOMACS for a workshop and conversation on Tuesday 7 September 2008, where he presented the work of the CDS.

The Centre for Digital Storytelling is a non-profit training, project development, and research organisation dedicated to assisting people in using digital media to tell meaningful stories from their lives.

In addition to discussing on-going digital storytelling workshops conducted within FOMACS and the prospect for future partnerships between FOMACS and CDS, in particular a training for trainers workshop in Spring 2009, Joe Lambert presented a series of projects of particular interest to FOMACS, including the Silence Speaks Project coordinated by Amy Hill:

An international digital storytelling initiative that provides survivors and witnesses of violence and other forms of trauma with a safe, supportive environment in which to tell their stories through a participatory media production process.

We partner with grassroots groups and not-for-profit organizations in the U.S. and beyond to offer workshops in which participants share and bear witness to each other's stories, write and record voice-over narration, collect and generate photos and video clips, and learn via hands-on computer tutorials how to combine these materials into short, first-person videos.

These media pieces challenge journalistic legacies of voyeurism and naturalized representation by placing control over what stories are told directly into the hands of those most effected by violence: people who survive it.

A project of the Center for Digital Storytelling, Silence Speaks has, over the past eight years, conducted a total of 32 intensive workshops. Our process is modified as needed to accommodate the languages, literacies and technologies of a given setting, defining participation on local terms. The guiding vision is to listen deeply, facilitate reflection and transformation, and encourage workshop participants to become involved in collective action to support economic and social justice.

The stories are used in non-commercial contexts only, as tools for training, community organizing, and policy advocacy focused on promoting dialogue about historical legacies of trauma and supporting human rights globally. (The HUB – Participatory Media Site for Human Rights).

We are pleased to announce that the 2008-2009 Mary Holland Journalism Scholarships have been awarded to Riyaz Patel and Erika Lerma, enrolled on the MA in International Journalism, School of Media, DIT. Aimed at encouraging immigrant participation in Irish Journalism and overcoming some of the barriers that have hampered diversity in the field, the Journalism Scholarship was launched in 2007 in honour of Mary Holland’s memory. One of Ireland’s finest journalists, Mary Holland combined great journalistic talent and integrity with a strong commitment to human rights and a more open and diverse Ireland during her lifetime. The Mary Holland Journalism Scholarship is sponsored by the Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS) and the Faculty of Applied Arts, Dublin Institute of Technology.

In conjunction with the launch of Part II of the FOMACS’ film series, Moving Worlds: Cinemas of Migration, the symposium opens with a screening of On N’est Pas Des Marques De Vélo (We Are Not Cheap Brands) by Jean-Pierre Thorn. Set in France in the 1990s, the film offers a critical portrait of immigrant youth cultures and their negotiation of life in the ’banlieues’, set against their collective and creative self-expression through the medium of hip hop. Cultural diversity, media and the creative arts’ is an initiative of the Goethe-Institut and the Alliance Française, supported by the French-German Elysée Cultural Fund, in collaboration with the School of Languages and The Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice, Dublin Institute of Technology.

A portrait of South African-born Dublin Bus Inspector, Floyd Jackson, to be screened at Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Film Festival Short Film Selection on Sunday 28th September at 12pm in the Irish Film Institute.

This short film forms part of The Richness of Change, a series documenting the diversity of origin, voice and perspective amongst Ireland’s immigrant population.

FOMACS’ second digital storytelling workshop is up and running with Darcy Alexandra as teacher and coordinator in collaboration with Integrating Ireland and Refugee Information Services with 13 participants from around the country. The workshop runs for 12 weeks.

The event also marked the launch of a series of short films focusing on migrants’ experiences in Ireland, produced in conjunction with the Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS) entitled 'The Richness of Change'.

Presentation on The Memory Box at the Trinity Immigration Initiative Migration Research Fair.

Usna Tunney, Point Blank, provides NGO partners with an opportunity to discuss their websites with a professional web-developer. The areas covered in this workshop included issues & concerns regarding the individual NGO websites, (including an appraisal and group discussion regarding respective websites); FOMACS & the NGO websites; Form & Function of websites; Web Compliancy Standards; Content Management Systems; Newsletter Management/Database Administration and Website Integration.

Screening of 'The Memory Box' at the Galway Film Fleadh

Moderator: Sally Daly, PhD Candidate, Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice DIT.

Speaker: Jabez Lam, Human Rights Activist and Coordinator of the Chinese Immigration Concern Committee, London.

Moderator: Jo Ahern, Director, Refugee Information Service, Ireland

Speakers: Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini, Co-directors and Producers of 'Well-Founded Fear'.

Instituto Cervantes, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2

Moderator: Roisín Boyd, Media Communications Officer, Irish Refugee Council.

Speakers: Robert Rae, Director of 'Trouble Sleeping'; Helen Trew, Community Producer, and Ghazi Hussein, Scriptwriter.

Moderator: Siobhán O’Donoghue, Director, Migrant Rights Centre, Ireland.

Speaker: Don Flynn, Director of the Migrant Rights Network, UK, and Chairperson of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM).

Venue: Goethe-Institut Dublin, 10 July, 6.00 pm

Halfway between documentary and fiction, 'Wesh Wesh, qu’est ce qui se passé?' is a take on the everyday life of an immigrant family, struggling to integrate into the ‘Cite des Bosquets’, a low-income housing project in the Parisian suburbs. Like every district, it is a world of its own with its rules and values.

Itayi Viriri, Coordinator of the Leadership Programme at the Immigrant Council of Ireland will introduce the film.

Directed by Michael Pfeifenberger. Austria/Israel 2008, 83 mins.

Venue: Goethe-Institut Dublin, 3 July, 6.00 pm

'Chaltura-Leila and Lena' tells the story of a young Russian immigrant and a young Bedouin living in Israel. The two women meet while studying at the Film High school and become friends, despite religious and political barriers. While working on a film project, they are constantly confronted with pictures from their own individual histories.

Michael Pfeifenberger will be present at the screening and will introduce the film.

Venue: Goethe-Institut Dublin, 26 June, 6.00 pm

The Morecambe bay disaster, in which a gang of Chinese cockle-pickers found themselves trapped by the fast-moving tide, momentarily lifted the lid on the invisible immigrant workforce who toil for a pittance in the factories, warehouses and mudflats of England. 'Ghosts' sets out to explore the workings of a clandestine economy that is supposedly illegal but tacitly condoned.

Jabez Lam, Human Rights Activist and Coordinator of the Chinese Immigration Concern Committee, London, will introduce the film and participate in a workshop from 10 am - 12 pm on 27 June.

Venue: Goethe-Institut Dublin, 19 June, 6.00 pm

'Ghettokids' focuses on the story of two brothers living in the poorest neighbourhood of Munich. Part of a small Turkish minority in Greece, Maikis and Christos, migrate to Germany to start a new and better life. The boys soon realise that their dreams will not come true. The only hopeful prospects in their disappointing situation are social worker Xaver and their new teacher, Hanna.

Christian Wagner will be present at the screening and will introduce the film.

Venue Instituto Cervantes: 12 June, 6.00 pm

Admission Free: (contact Rashmi Sawhney at The Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice)

'Well-Founded Fear' is a documentary about the American political asylum system: who is deemed worthy and who decides. Marking the first and probably only time a film crew has ever been privy to these proceedings, the camera steals us behind the bulletproof windows of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), where bureaucrats ponder the sometimes life-or-death fate of immigrants seeking asylum.

Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini will be present at the screening and will conduct a workshop on the Epidavros Film Project and their forthcoming documentary series on the comprehensive immigration reform campaign in the U.S. titled ‘How Democracy Works Now’. Workshop will run from 10 am - 12 pm on 13 June.

Venue Instituto Cervantes: 5 June, 6.00 pm

Admission Free: (contact Rashmi Sawhney at The Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice)

'Trouble Sleeping' tells the story of a group of refugees, one of whose survival depends on the revelation of a friend’s closely guarded secret. The film has been produced through collaboration between the Edinburgh Theatre Workshop, Makar Productions, and refugee communities in Edinburgh.

Director, Robert Rae, will be present along with Helen Trew, Community Producer, and Ghazi Hussein, Scriptwriter, to introduce the film and to conduct a workshop on collaborative filmmaking from 10 am - 12 pm on 6 June.

Venue Instituto Cervantes: 29 May, 6.00 pm

Admission Free: (contact Rashmi Sawhney at The Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice)

'El Otro Lado... Un Acercamiento a Lavapiés' is about the immigrant collectives living in the Madrid neighbourhood of Lavapiés, collectives comprising mainly people from Arab countries, in addition to China, Latin-America and Africa. Its residents speak about their impressions and experiences within the neighbourhood, the day-to-day realities of living together and issues of integration. Older residents, native to the area, tell us about Lavapiés and its transformation.

Jacqueline Healy, Coordinator of the Drop-In Centre at the Migrant Rights Centre, Ireland will introduce the film.

Venue: Instituto Cervantes, 22 May, 6.00 pm

'It’s A Free World' is a film about the exploitation of mainly eastern European migrant workers in Britain told from the point of view of Angie, a 30 year old heading an employment agency for immigrants.

Don Flynn, Director of the Migrant Rights Network, UK, and Chairperson of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) will introduce the film and conduct a workshop from 10 am -12 pm on 23 May

Seven ‘one-minute wonder’ films entitled 'The Richness of Change' were screened on RTÉ One throughout Intercultural and Anti-racism Week 2008 (7-14 April). This short film series, produced by FOMACS in partnership with The Immigrant Council of Ireland, documents the diversity of origin, voice and perspective amongst Ireland’s immigrant population.

Jo Ahern, Director of the Refugee Information Service represents FOMACS at the 'Open Cities' Conference, Madrid. ‘Open Cities’, a project funded by the British Council, explores how immigration can significantly contribute to city success. By tracing the links between new migrant population (first and second generation) and other drivers of success within cities, this project put forward a portfolio of best practice case studies and index of OpenCities and a set of guidelines for city policies.

Screening of The Memory Box: Film and Teaching Pack at the World Witness Film Festival, Belltable Theatre, Limerick

Screening of digital stories produced in FOMACS titled ‘Undocumented in Ireland: Our Stories’ at the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) Launch of ‘Life in the Shadows - an Exploration of Irregular Migration in Ireland’, The Mansion House, Dublin. Guest speaker, Mary Robinson, Chair of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative.

Roundtable discussion hosted by FOMACS on The Memory Box: Film and Teaching Pack

Launch of the Mary Holland Journalism Scholarships: Dublin Institute of Technology, under the auspices of FOMACS, is proud to award two Journalism Scholarships in Mary Holland’s memory. One of Ireland’s finest journalists, Mary Holland combined great journalistic talent and integrity with a strong commitment to human rights and a more open and diverse Ireland during her lifetime. Aimed at encouraging immigrant participation in Irish Journalism and overcoming some of the barriers that have hampered diversity in the field, the scholarships will be awarded to Monika Bartkowska, MA International Journalism and Kolawola Ogunbiyi, MA Journalism, School of Media, DIT.

Screening of The Memory Box at the Galway Junior Film Fleadh

Dr. Jordan is Director of the Butetown History and Arts Centre, Cardiff, and Reader in Cultural Studies and Creative Practice, Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries. He has previously exhibited photographic and life history work, ‘Somali Elders: Portraits from Wales’ at FOMACS - DIT.

Guest Speaker: Her Excellency Mannete Ramaili, Lesotho Ambassador to Ireland

FOMACS’ second workshop on Photoshop, led by Aodán O Coileáin, examined the formatting of images and text in the context of desktop publishing, the building of image archives, and designing flyers, magazine covers and adverts.

Glenn Jordan’s ‘Somali Elders’ series of portraits, with accompanying texts, was exhibited at FOMACS from March to July 2007. The 'Somali Elders' project established a method and way of working with photography and life stories. Jordan’s work combines humanist portraiture with oral history in the context of longitudinal work with and alongside immigrant communities in Wales.

Launch of FOMACS: a media-based initiative producing print, broadcast, photographic and interactive media on the topic of immigration and integration, with the aim of reaching and engaging diverse audiences.



Guests of Honour: 
Her Excellency, Priscilla Jana, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa; Gerard Stembridge, Writer/Director; 
Frank Sharry Executive Director, National Immigration Forum, Washington D.C.



An exhibition of Dr Glenn Jordan’s photographs and life histories ‘Somali Elders: Portraits from Wales’ will be a central feature of the launch.

To see more on the launch with video highlights please visit the project page here.

Frank Sharry, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, Washington, DC, facilitates an all-day workshop on ‘advocacy strategies’ with FOMACS’ NGO partners, focusing on the mobilisation of key constituencies and supporters, NGO coordinated activities and the issues surrounding resources and capacity limitations.

Co-ordinated by Owen Tighe, Sound Technichian, School of Media – DIT, this workshop covered practical issues related to audio production: applications of audio production, audio editing, digital outputs and formats. This introductory workshop offered practical solutions on how participants might utilise their audio archive; offerings tips on how to record audio at events, or stream audio for their websites.