don't hate the media - become the media

DIY not Consumerism
www.videoactivism.de
Concept of Netzwerk Videoaktivismus ('Videoactivism Network')for mediawork around the G8 2007 in Heiligendamm

The Netzwerk Videoaktivismus consists of filmmakers, who have set the goal to help activists to present their own story and publicize it through the medium of video. There have already been work-meetings on this topic, 3-4 times a year, since spring 2005. These meetings have consisted of existing networks as well as various groups and individuals.(for more info: www.videoactivism.de). The current focus of the network is the mobilization for and reporting on the anti-G8 protests. To this point, we have discussed the following concept, which we would like to present here:

Basics of Videoactivism
Videorecordings will be published on indymedia or similar structures. Filmed actions will generally be pixelated, ie. people will be made unrecognizable unless the filmed person has explicitly said otherwise. The transmission of recordings by a legal-public or a private "program institution" is only at the wish of the group being filmed. The one exception is release of video to expose Nazis. All material will be furnished with a logo to make "license offenses" harder. We will provide a contact to handle questions from the press about footage .

Before the Summit
Videos about globalization will be produced and published. A collection of films on that topic will be put together for arthouse cinemas, public access TV channels, and other venues. This collection is intended for screening before the summit, but will be shown during and afterwards as well. A specialized website for the purpose of distributing videos around the g8 will be built or linked to from an existing site. We hope to make multilingual subtitles available, and for that aim, we begin to build a pool of translators.

During the Summit
Production of videoclips for the internet, to download or stream, as well as temporary live-streams. This will provide up-to-date video coverage of the summit from our perspective.

Working together with other media
We wish to work together with free radios and other videoactivists. To this end, we seek preparatory discussions on the local, regional, national, and international levels. On the level of information exchange, we hope for cooperation with NGOs.

Infrastructure
The videoactivist network favors more decentralized locations for A/V production. A mobile editting studio will be installed. An info-dispatch for media activistsshould be build to collect and verify information.

Contact
videoactivism [at] nadir.org
g8-mediaactivism [at] lists.nadir.org
www.videoactivism.de