The Pacific Community Human Rights and Social Development Division asked Microwave Film’s Jack Niedenthal to make a short film on Human Rights. To do this they chose to use children to tell the story using three languages: Marshallese, English and sign language.
The children who star in the locally-produced video Your Human Rights — Jimwe im Maron Ko Am — bounce out of the screen at you as they define human rights with charm, shyness, and bubbling energy. It’s a five-minute show that contains a lifelong message. Your Human Rights is not to be missed, but equally important is how the video came about…
KAREN EARNSHAW
While doing her job as Country Focal Officer for the Pacific Community’s Human Rights and Social Development division, Kathryn Relang became aware there were little or no materials for educating and engaging people about human rights in the Marshall Islands.
“A common misunderstanding among Marshallese and the Pacific region is that human rights are a foreign concept,” Kathryn said. “But, really, if we look into our cultural practices, bwebwenatos, proverbs, and songs, human rights and responsibilities are conveyed. Human rights come from our values that we want to live by in our societies. It is not a foreign concept.”
Lack of human rights materials
Kathryn also found the lack of materials for young people was particularly noticeable. “We wanted information to be accessible to all, and that meant doing something in the Marshallese and English languages and also in sign language, because we engage with the Deaf community in the RMI.”
It was decided that one way to get the human rights message out to the community was to create a short, but definitive and engaging video. “We had an open call for proposals for the production of the video,” Kathryn said. Finally, they “went with Microwave Films because of Jack Niedenthal’s experience in producing videos that are engaging for young people of the RMI, which is our main target group for the video.” Jack had also previously worked with SPC on a film about violence against women and girls.
Filming of the video began in October 2019 and the “set” was Majuro Cooperative School. Film-maker Jack Niedenthal said that filming began October 1, 2019 and continued over the next two months, with the last shoots being done in January, 2020.
Jack thoroughly enjoyed the making of the movie: “Working with the young students was great, all very cooperative and it was a lot of fun for all of us, even though it was very demanding. The easiest students to film were the Deaf kids, they were perfect on almost every take. This is an amazing and important film, very proud of what we accomplished.”
Teachers learn about the film
SPC staff have been using the video when they have teacher training in Majuro. “We also took it to Wotje, Ebeye, Jaluit and some islands on Kwajalein,” Kathryn said. “Teachers were shown this resource and explained when and how they can use the video with their students. We also use it during our general community outreach programs where we have young participants. It usually follows an activity or a presentation on human rights.”
Kathryn stressed the importance of knowing and understanding one’s rights. “Marshallese people and the people of this planet have to deal with today’s challenges and opportunities. We need to educate our people to be socially responsible citizens of our small nation. And we need to be global citizens considering our mass out-migration patterns. It’s also necessary to be on the world stage to address some of the human rights violations that our people have endured and continue to face today and into the future.
Protecting everyone’s rights
“While promoting and protecting our rights, we also need to remember our responsibilities in promoting and protecting the rights of others.”
- The Human Rights and Social Development division (HRSD) of the Pacific Community (a.k.a SPC) was formerly called the Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT). The HRSD is a result of a merger of RRRT and the Social Development division of SPC and it supports human rights implementation among its member countries, along with gender, cultural and social development.
This article was first published in The Marshall Islands Journal ( www.marshallislands.com )
About The Pacific Community: Formerly called the South Pacific Commission, the (SPC) is an international development organization governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organization’s headquarters are in Nouméa, New Caledonia, and it has regional offices in Suva, Pohnpei, and Port Vila, as well as field staff in other locations in the Pacific, including the Marshall Islands.
The Mission of Microwaves Films, which was created by Jack Niedenthal, is: “To develop, encourage and promote the culture of the Marshall Islands through the medium of film. To encourage residents of the Marshall Islands to explore the Marshallese culture and life in the Marshall Islands through the medium of film. To help support the educational, cultural and other institutions of the Marshall Islands via feature-length and short films, commercial, news and infomercial production.
Watch more movies made in the Marshall Islands at this link:
Locally-Made Movies Archives • Marshall Islands Guide (infomarshallislands.com)
