The 2007 Video Advocacy Institute (VAI) 

In July 2007, WITNESS , in association with Concordia University's Communications Studies Program and Documentary Centre, convened its first-ever VAI in Montreal, Canada. This unique event brought together 30 leading human rights advocates from around the world for this innovative program that trained them to successfully integrate video advocacy into their social change campaigns.

Participants present included advocates from Armenia, Thailand, St. Lucia, Egypt, the United States, Swaziland, Indonesia, Nepal, Malaysia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Jamaica, Ecuador, Peru, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Hungary, the Philippines, Switzerland, Mongolia, South Africa, Kenya and Liberia.

Combined, these advocates fight for all the protections set forth in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. As articulated by WITNESS Program Director, Sam Gregory, "It's an incredibly brave individual who tells the story of what's happening in a place where news crews never get." And for the WITNESS Training Staff, the 2007 VAI was an incredibly rare opportunity to teach and learn alongside 30 dedicated human rights defenders.

THE 2007 VAI FILM PROJECT:

In addition to the intensive strategy training, the participants also made films. Over the course of two weeks, the 2007 VAI participants worked in teams of three to create what was - in the case of most participants - their first film. They shot and edited short character portraits of environmental developers working on the Benny Farm Housing Project, single mothers seeking to finish their education with the assistance of ‘Project Chance' and the Benny Farm, and low-income seniors living at the Benny Farm. Through tenant interviews, the participants gained a greater perspective on the successes and failures of this housing project. 

To view one of the films created by the 2007 VAI participants, please click on one of the videos below. 

• Alex Hill, a developer working to promote sustainability in the design of the Benny Farm ( or Jason Prince)
• Pamela Delgado, a single mother pursing a degree in accounting at the L'Université du Québec à Montréal with the assistance of Project Chance and the Benny Farm
• Ann Bonnett, a senior citizen originally from Cairo, Egypt and now living at the Benny Farm
• Click here to see a selection of Benny Farm video portraits

To learn more about WITNESS, the VAI, Concordia University's Communications Studies Program and Documentary Centre, and the Benny Farm, please click on the links below:

• http://www.witness.org 
• http://www.witness.org/vai
• http://artsandscience.concordia.ca/comm/
• http://www.documentaryconcordia.org/
• http://www.loeuf.com/en/bennyfarm/gebf/index.php
• http://www.bennyfarm.org/en/home.php 

Should you have any further questions about WITNESS or the VAI, please do not hesitate to write to us at vai@witness.org. Thank you for your interest in WITNESS and the VAI . 

ABOUT THE VAI TRAINERS Participants commented that the trainers, "Showed deep will to help and teach participants", were "Fabulous! Great and positive energy, openness and willingness to teach and work with us and great expertise," and that "They believe that WE can do it  . . . these feelings were transmitted to us."

ABOUT THE BENNY FARM

Benny Farm is a large residential development built in 1947 as housing for World War II veterans and their families. By the 1980s, however, the housing complex was in such disrepair that it had become an eyesore for the city. Several nonprofit organizations, in partnership with government agencies, environmental engineers and public interest architects, decided to recreate Benny Farm into a new kind of model housing project based on cooperative ownership and sustainable energy. The character portraits completed by the participants of the VAI touch on issues of housing, economic, and environmental rights at the Benny Farm.