Lights, Camera, Activism! Stigma Busting Video Workshop
Hosted by Choicebox with support by Abortion Rights Campaign
10.30am – 1pm Thursday 28th September 2017
Filmbase, Temple Bar, Dublin.
Tickets

Do you have a phone? Do you like films? Do you want to combine these things to bust abortion stigma? Then this is the workshop for you!

These days, modern technology has empowered people to tell their stories with nothing but a camera phone and some creativity, and these stories have then be shared with people from across the world. This means that people can now respond to contemporary events in innovative and impactful ways at the click of a button, creating video responses that are at once personal and powerful. 

This Abortion Rights Campaign / ChoiceBox introductory video workshop aims to equip participants with the skills needed to generate and record their own personal responses to Ireland’s restrictive abortion legislation and to the campaign to repeal the 8th amendment. 

Workshop Outline

The workshop will begin with a screening of a few short videos that have been recorded for the new ChoiceBox website which aims to collect video responses to the 8th amendment. Videos from people such as Tara Flynn and Lian Bell will be shown, and will provide participants with inspiration on how they may go about their own, personal video response. 

Artist and writer Ria Czerniak and Dimitra Xidous will give a brief talk on their artistic process in developing ‘Here is a Box’ – their video response to the 8th amendment (which will also be screened at the workshop). 

Videographer Charlotte Chapman will provide participants with some practical tips on how to record a visually appealing and impactful video using a camera phone, focusing on technical tips and tips for composition. 

The workshop will then split into groups and people will be given a 45 minute challenge to script and shoot a video on their phone focusing on composition and light with help from Charlotte, Dimitra, and Ria. Participants will then be given the option of uploading their video to the ChoiceBox website or of submitting the video to the site at a later date. 

There will be tea and cake provided throughout the workshop with the support of KC Peaches. 

Participation in this event is free but booking is essential. Please see below for more details about Abortion Rights Campaign, ChoiceBox and for answers to FAQs about this event.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of Filmbase for this event.

Ticketing Information

Tickets are free but places are VERY limited so booking is essential. Click here to book!
NB. Online ticket sales will end at midnight on 27th September but tickets may be available on the door from 10am.

Donations

Filmbase is kindly donating their venue and all the event facilitators are volunteer activists with the Abortion Rights Campaign. Should you wish to express your support with a donation towards our campaign, this will be gratefully received with thanks but is not expected.

More about the contributors to this event

Ria Czerniak-LeBov is an artist, songwriter and performer from Dublin. In 2016 she graduated with first class honours from NCAD, studying Fine Art Print and History of Art. Ria received graduate awards from both Graphic Studio Dublin and Black Church print studio, for her body of work Fragments and Re-Imaginings, a series of copper plate etchings, two of which were also included in the 186th RHA annual exhibition. Her work has also been shown at St. Patrick’s Hospital, Courthouse Arts Centre, ImpressionsPrint Biennale (GMIT), Graphic Studio Gallery, Steambox, Halftone Print Fair and The Printmaker’s Gallery. Ria released her debut album Souvenir in 2012, and is currently completing her second album. She regularly performs both original songs as well as jazz, soul and folk around the country.

Dimitra Xidous‘ collection Keeping Bees was published in 2014 by Doire Press (Ireland). Her poems and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in The Stinging Fly, gorse, Room Magazine, among others. Dimitra was a finalist in the 2014 Malahat Review Open Season Awards, the featured poet in the 2014 Spring Issue of The Stinging Fly, and shortlisted for The Bridport Prize (2013, poetry). She is currently working on her second collection of poetry, and a collection of essays.

Charlotte Chapman is a freelance videographer and abortion rights activist. She is also edit assistant at Screen Scene Post Production and is currently working on a Repeal the 8th Video Project.

More about the organisers of this event

The Abortion Rights Campaign is a movement for choice and change in Ireland. We aim to promote broad national support for a referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution by the Irish Parliament; to push for the introduction of extensive abortion legislation by the Northern Ireland Assembly; and to ensure the health and rights of women in pregnancy are protected in line with international human rights standards.
For more information, to get involved or to donate to us go to http://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/

ChoiceBox is a small, Dublin-based project that encourages artistic response to the issues arising from Ireland’s restrictive abortion legislation. We aim to act as a platform for Irish poets, authors and activists to speak about choice and its importance in contemporary Irish society, especially when considered within the context of the eighth amendment.
ChoiceBox has hosted several spoken word, poetry and musical events in order to destigmatize abortion and to raise money for the campaign to repeal the 8th and other abortion support networks. Our goal is to celebrate choice and to call for the right to choose to be extended to all, and to every aspect of Irish women’s lives.
We believe in the right to bodily autonomy, and the pressing need to trust women to make their own decisions and to have access to their basic human rights.

FAQs

1. Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?
This is an all ages event however minors (under 18 year olds) must be accompanied by a guardian or parent. Please be aware that some stories told on the night may contain adult themes and include accounts of sexual violence.

2. Do I need to bring anything with me?
Just you and whatever kind of camera you have.

3. Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?
You can show proof of purchase on your phone or other digital device if you don’t have a printed ticket.

4. Can I cancel my ticket?
Yes. Please notify us at [email protected] so we can release your place for someone else as soon as possible.

5. Is this event accessible?
The venue for this event is wheelchair accessible.
Many Abortion Rights Campaign members are trained in sighted guiding and will be happy to provide assistance at this event however pre-booking at least 48 hours in advance is essential to guarantee a guide.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee sign language interpretation. Some of the media played on screen will not have subtitles. We ask deaf and hearing-impaired attendees to get in touch as early as possible when booking so that we can do our best to accommodate.

If you have any of the needs listed above or others not listed, please notify us at [email protected] so we can do our best to ensure your participation.

6. How can I contact the organiser with any questions?
Email [email protected] for a response within 48 hours. Put ‘Speak Out’ in the subject line of your email.
Comment on our Facebook Event Page for a response within 24 hours