Zonta Club of Cebu II Documentary Film Scholarship

At the ZI convention in Torino, Italy, one of the  International Service Projects that International President Lynn Mckenzie presented for this biennium was “MASS COMMUNICATION WITH A PURPOSE:  GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP ON EDUTAINMENT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE”.  The primer on the project in The Zontian magazine describes it thus: “Edutainment is the term used to describe a proven approach that combines mass communication of a positive and locally relevant message with community outreach to transform the myth that violence against women (VAW) is “normal” and “inevitable”.  The edutainment approach, which combines traditional and contemporary media, is proven to be both cost-effective and efficient in reaching women and men on a much wider scale. “

While President Lynn’s project would initially cover only two target countries in the first year (Bangladesh and Nigeria) and ten countries in Year two, the Philippines was not to be among these target countries.  When Zontian Filna Espina learned that the Cebu International Documentary Film Festival (CIDFF, of which her brother is a member) was offering to conduct the second session of a 2-week workshop on documentary film making, the club saw it as an opportunity to send a young woman with an interest in film making to learn the craft and secondly, as an opportunity to have her come up with the club’s own edutainment project on the VAW message.

After interviewing three candidates for the scholarship, Johannah Mariz Esguerra was chosen by the Scholarship Committee.   The Committee kept in close touch with Hannah during the course.  At one point, the Committee asked to be shown the progress of her work.  The Committee members gave comments and suggestions and even helped in crafting the title of the film.

During the general membership meeting last November 3, her film entitled “WOMAN, WOMB-MAN, WOE-MAN” was shown to the membership and met with wide applause.  With a few minor corrections, the 6-minute film’s launching is being planned by the Zonta Club of Cebu II as its producer.  In its final form, the film will be uploaded onto the Club’s website, www.zontacebu2.org and will be submitted to the District Governor and the Zonta International President.  It is planned to be shown in schools, during club-sponsored gender sensitivity seminars, at the “Dangoyngoy sa Kahilum” series of fora and hopefully on a cable tv station.  It may likewise be shared with other interested Zonta clubs in Area 3.