“Democracy is one of the most difficult terms to explain but it’s also the easiest to expound. Using a few words, and in a short time, I’m interested in explaining it. Democracy is (em)powering the individual, to make the individual powerful, to make the individual supreme, to make the individual content, to make the individual the focus of every thought. That’s what I feel is democracy,” the video starts off with the recognizable voice of one of the most influential Nepali youth leaders and CA member, Gagan Thapa.
“I chose speakers who are articulate as I had to wrap up the segment in three minutes,” says Choden on the voiceovers she uses in her oeuvre.
After the introductory definition by Thapa, it is social entrepreneur Anil Chtrakar’s voice which compares democracy with a salad bowl with different vegetables integrated to bring out different flavors harmonized in one.
Viplob Pratik, author, poet and lyricist, is another prominent voice that follows in the video. For him, it doesn’t matter if it’s democracy, republic, or autocracy, and ultimately it’s about the people running it, and they should be responsible enough to know what they want.
“…they say the rebels came home but it still feels like war...” The powerful lyrics penned by Yanik Shrestha and promising rapper Gaurav Subba, who call their group LYRICS INTHEPENDENSE, follows next, and as they sync their rap to the music of Pravin Chhetri, we can somewhat grasp what democracy is in the Nepali context.
“The rap and the views put in by the speakers is the real strength of this video, and I feel the clip has greatly reached where it is because of this inclusion,” says Choden.
The video was put together within a week, but the thought process took about a month or so. The shots of protesters taking to the streets in the video were the initial idea that Choden took off with, as the mass represented the recent People’s Movement. This was what she felt democracy in Nepal has been all about. Yanik, a talented lyric writer and rapper and also a good friend of hers, proposed incorporating the powerful medium of music into the video as it would have great appeals for everyone.
The disconcerting images shown in the video – the traffic, protests, and garbage piles – all represent the disillusionment and the confusion of the director herself, and of the people in the country. She also includes random opinions of people in and around Kathmandu, and it seems they don’t have much to say. One woman vents her frustration, “What democracy? What republic? What autocracy?” It’s the people who actually get muddled up, whatever system may come.
Democracy, though it’s taken as an ideal system in the world, isn’t faring well in many countries. Choden says, “Democracy is sometimes overrated. One has to get everybody’s opinion. But then, people aren’t being able to do this, firstly because there are so many people, and their opinions do count. The leaders have to have visions to keep everything together. But when they get caught up in power struggles, egos and selfishness, they ultimately lose the visions and forget that it’s not about them but about everybody.”
There wasn’t much technicality and costs involved in making this three-minute video, and the medium is a good example of how even with few resources, quality work can be presented. To film, Choden used a Sony Handycam 105E series. Most of the shots in the video seem to have required a great deal of hard work, but she says she got the many difficult shots, like the traffic jam scene and garbage pileup, with ease and sheer coincidence of happenings in the country. Even her interviews with the speakers in the video were fixed to her schedules. Finally, it was the concept of the video that gave it the real catch in the competition. She did the editing with some colleagues in her free time.
“Putting in so many thoughts into three minutes was very limiting for me. But with the efforts and support of everybody concerned, it really shows how, if people work together, the final product comes out really good,” says Tsering as an overview of how her video has turned out. “Even with a small project like this, I feel it is one example of how people can bring Nepal on the map in their own little ways.”
A oneFILM production (http://motleymix.com.np), Choden’s video will now compete against the short-listed 17 finalists, chosen from more than 900 entries from 95 countries. The finalists – selected by an independent jury co-chaired by Hernando de Soto, President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, and Michael Apted, President of the Directors’ Guild of America – represent Brazil (2 entries), Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, India, Iran (2), Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Zambia. These videos provide an array of voices and visions about democracy from around the world.
Public voting to select the six winners is now open, and will continue until the midnight of June 15 (EST). To vote for our very own Choden’s promising entry from Nepal, you can log in to www.youtube.com/democracychallenge and click on the “Vote Now” button. Choden’s video says “from cash0612” and you can cast your vote by clicking on the thumbs-up option.
Seven winners, one each from the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Central Asia, East Asia/Pacific, and one anonymous winner, will be announced by the jury in mid-June 2009. The six publicly identified winners will then travel in an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York, and Hollywood where they will claim their awards amidst a gala screening of the winning masterpieces, and get to hobnob with filmmakers, democracy advocates, media and civil society.
The Democracy Video Challenge was launched online and at the United Nations on the International Democracy Day of September 15, 2008. It was created through a unique partnership consisting of democracy and youth organizations, film and entertainment industry, academia, and the U.S. Government.
To see all of the Nepal entries, go to http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A434AA9CC8C5B3E2
And if you want to vote for the sleekly done short-take on democracy by Choden, please visit http://www.youtube.com/democracychallenge and look for the entry by CASH 0612. Rock Democracy!
Related story
Democratic Recession in Nepal
-1200x560-1779899638.webp)
-1779842101.webp)
