In January 2017 Blink Vivid crowdfunded to film and raise awareness on the issue of homeless, drug addicted children living on the streets of Kathmandu. We worked together with charities in Nepal to produce a documentary along with promotional video content to showcase their philanthropic efforts.
"Limits of Freedom: The Street Children of Kathmandu" is now available to watch online for free (See links at the bottom of the page for more) so therefore we thought we'd compile this article to give an outline of the project and its achievements.
HOW IT STARTED
Having visited Nepal in his younger years, our technical director Aidan Joseph was taken back by Kathmandu's begging culture and the amount of children that were living on the streets there. It was with this thought that the discussion began between him and myself (Joe Gist - creative director at Blink Vivid) as to how we could create something to shine a light on the issue to a western audience. With limited funding, resources and knowledge on the subject, we set out to discuss the issue with Nepalese filmmakers, charity workers and ex-street children before compiling a crowdfund campaign which would support us in achieving our goal.
Watch our original crowdfund video below
With the crowdfunding campaign raising just under £1500 and putting us in contact with a collection of contributors willing to support the project when we arrived in Kathmandu, we recruited our sound recordist Rhys and the project was underway.
THE TRIP
Staying with a local rehabilitation centre for ex street children, we underwent three weeks of extensive investigation on the issue. We visited multiple organisations and spoke with those directly involved to find out as much as we could about the issue. We recorded daily conversations, filmed conversations amongst ourselves along the way and transcribed interviews in the evening to ensure we were capturing the correct content, creating the right final piece and fundamentally serving the subject matter the justice it deserved.
Watch our Behind the Scenes Videos below
RETURNING FROM NEPAL
Upon returning from Kathmandu, feelings amongst the team were certainly mixed. I can remember feeling proud of everything we'd managed to capture in our time there, upset by some of the shocking things we'd witnessed and more than ever determined to turn this collection of footage into an impactful short film that would be respectful and in no way exploitative of the vulnerability on show.
With three weeks shooting on three cameras, we had captured a lot of information and so began the extensive post-production process. Compiling all of our information into categories, reviewing what we'd learnt along the way and consuming a ridiculous amount of coffee over back to back 12 hour long editing days. It was at this point in the process we recruited William (Managing Director at Blink Vivid) onto the project and the three founding members of the soon to be business began working together.
We knew that after months of editing the project we had exhausted our knowledge of the subject and the footage and decided to run test a test screening of the film to help us tighten up the information that we were attempting to deliver in such a small runtime.
ACHIEVMENTS
Upon the completion of the film the next step was to get it seen by as many eyes as possible on the festival circuit. The documentary went on to be a success around the world, won multiple awards and was recognised by the Sheffield Institute of Arts, The Royal Television Society and was even selected to be screened at the BFI Southbank in London. (For full list of achievements see the bottom of this page).
Upon the completion of the film the three of us (Joe, Aidan and Will) formed Blink Vivid as a vessel for all of our future work together. It is our aim now to continue to work with organisations that support social change with an ambition to make a positive difference to local, national and international communities.
Please watch the full version of the film below and be sure to share it to shine a light on this important issue.
LIMITS OF FREEDOM: THE STREET CHILDREN OF KATHMANDU
An intimate glance into the complex issues surrounding the children that survive feral on the streets of Kathmandu.
Written by
Joe Gist
Creative Director at Blink Vivid Video
& Co-Director / Producer of"Limits of Freedom: The Street Children of Kathmandu"
RELEVANT LINKS
Limits of Freedom
Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/508876543
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1s5zb-f600
Blink Vivid Video
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/blinkvividvideo
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/blinkvividvideo
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/blinkvividvideo
FILM CREDITS
INTERVIEWEES
Pravin Mahate
Sushil Babu Chettri
Bimala Magar
CREW
Producers: Joe Gist, Aidan Joseph & William Wade / Blink Vivid Video
Directed by: Joe Gist & Aidan Joseph
Sound Recordist: Rhys Joseph
Sound Design: William Wade
CONTRIBUTORS
Ashim GC, Barsha Dhungana Chhetri, Christine Buhafiar, Ganesh Basnet, Kinley Lama, Kumar Thapa Magar, Laxman Adhikari, Mahatma Parajuli, Mohan Pyakurel, Mukesh Kumar Poddar, Naresh Raj Bhattana, Pashupati Jayswal, Paula Kershaw, Pema Lama, Pravin Mahate, Rakesh Kumar, Renee Tennet, Sonam Lama, Subash Lama, Subash Nepali, Suraj Adhikari, Tsering Wangdu, Veemsen Lama, Wangdue Lama
CONTRIBUTING ORGANISATIONS
Pegasus Children's Project
Pegasus School & Hostel
C.H.A.N.C.E For Nepal
WeGain Zone
Sober Recovery Treatment & Rehabilitation Centre
ADDITIONAL THANKS
Zia Bales, Barbara Datson, Caroline Joseph, Raju Mali, Vincent Mills, Christopher Cooke Christopher Hall, Colin Pons All of our GoFundMe Donators
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
Nominated // Royal Television Society Student Awards 2018
Runner Up // Sheffield Institute of Art Awards 2017
WINNER Student UK Film // Telling Tales International Documentary Festival 2018
WINNER Outstanding Student Debut High Peak Indie Film Festival 2018
SILVER AWARD WINNER // Spotlight Short Film Awards 2017
Official Selection // UK Film Festival 2017
Official Selection // Bristol Independent Film Festival 2018
Official Selection // Wales International Documentary Festival 2018
Official Selection // Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2018
Official Selection // Telling Tales International Documentary Festival 2018