ACT TWO, SCENE TWO

EXT. SAME DAY. HOTEL MATER BONIS CONSILII, BUTARE.

Packed not too uncomfortably in the SUV, we finally hit the came upon the legendary byways of Africa on the last half mile or so to the hotel. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.....

As experienced everywhere we've been so far, the staff are professional and genuinely courteous. The exterior is carefully detailed and the grounds are well looked after. As with each hotel we've stayed in there's a security person on duty at the front/gate. Each of us checks in and is given a room key and its a pleasure to see how comfortable the room is--nothing fancy, a good traveler's hotel. No wonder it was almost completely booked when our reservations were made.

We hustle on over to the National University of Rwanda campus which one could easily mistake for a small, prosperous college somewhere in California. The grounds are well kept, teh buildings have the 70's quad/mod look, and of course students walking/talking easily among themselves on the way to class. Not untypical of any healthy academic community. We meet several people immediately including Dr. Evode Mukama, director of the Centre for Instructional Technology, faculty and a couple of students. We get a short tour on our way to the outgoing Director of Academic Instruction for the School of Journalism's office and then we settle down to discuss some of the specific needs/wants of their students.

Patti and I put together quite an instructional package for the workshops, mostly because the specifics of what the student/teachers wanted weren't all that clear. We understood we have latitude but all that does is make one feel even more responsible--so we over prepared. This meeting gave us as much better feel for the circumstances and on the short walk over we sorted thru several approaches for how to work with the materials we had, then confidently strode into the classroom.

What we found were 60 or so bright, eager and determined young men and women. We took a few moments to set up the computer, LCD projector; sort and stack handouts--all while the students waited patiently. Then with a nod between us we greeted the class and Patti and I introduced ourselves, taking a few moments to talk about our respective career paths which, interestingly, both started with studies in Journalism. When then shifted gears and started in with a few general questions and concepts and we got what were told to expect! The students tossed philosophical and ethical questions at us, and we responded with more challenges and examples, and more quesitons for them.

Patti had made an extra effort to identify clips from the package of films we were carrying from the American Documentary Showcase 2010 catalog. These reinforced our lectures quite nicely and the students kept asking for more! At some point, someone suggested we take a break, and after cooled fruit juice and one or two individual conversations we went back to work.

What most impressed me was the way in which the students grappled with the hard and fast rules that come with journalism, as opposed to those that, frankly, don't exist in non-fiction filmmaking. (I use the contemporary term "non-fiction", as distinct from the more traditional "documentary".) We covered a broad range of subject matter--finding a story that connects, research, understanding how passion and commitment are the driving force behind most docs that get made (and why many don't); elements that one finds in most documentaries such as interviews and their role in shaping the story; camera techniques; responsibilities to the subject (and to the documentary)--and of course photos, music, animation/graphics, voice-over, stock film, etc. and how they are commonly and uncommonly used in documentary filmmaking.


We took an hour for lunch at a local restaurant frequented by many Europeon travelers and the food was delicious! Then we jumped back in again--this time improvising on our own improvisation by giving the students the opportunity to speak about their own project proposals. We gave them positive suggestions and encouragement whenever possible. Several times we revisited some of the ethical issues posed earlier and we made sure to address them--sometimes reinforcing the concepts with clips, other times using examples common to all people.

When we looked up to take a breather we realized class was over--and there was so much more material to cover!

It was pretty clear the students wanted more from us--one looked me rather seriously in the eye and demanded to know when I would be back to finish. I promised I would be at the first opportunity! We distributed out handouts along with a bunch of other freebees. (I was nearly mobbed when I handed out Framingham State College ink pens!)

Afterward we both admitted to exhaustion--the kind that comes from students who are excited to learn from you and pick your brain for every bit of information they can get!

I do plan on coming back to Rwanda to teach and I hope to have a class just like that one again...!