Face Up Istanbul

Between 13-21st of November German, Polish, Greek and Romanian teams flew to Istanbul to experience a week full of extraordinary people, food and scenery. It was a time filled with hard work, excitement and fruitful endeavours in creating two video reports about the environment and a documentary about how it all happened.

All thanks to the project ‘Face Up’ which is funded by Erasmus +. European Youth4Media Network together with Bürgerhaus Bennohaus (Germany), Mediaterra Nea (Greece), YouthART (Turkey) and FRG (Romania) will organise 6 trainings in 4 different countries. The purpose is not only to qualify young media trainers but also to talk about social, global and environmental issues. The first step of the project, which is running for two years, was a media camp in Istanbul, Turkey.

5 cultures, 20 participants, 4 trainers have met together and discussed media and environmental protection in Istanbul. First days were filled with theory and workshops about cameras, microphones, editing programs and journalism. Full of impressions and knowledge, all participants took equipment to their hands and practiced their cross media skills. The results of their effort are two movies about environmental topics and one documentary video created by the PR group. Polish trainer – Grzegorz Konopski admits: ‘Although the participants had different characters, interests and backgrounds it was safe to say that they were friendly and ambitious and wanted to learn as much as possible and make our stay in Turkey as eventful as possible’.

During the intercultural evening all participated countries had a chance to present their national food and drinks. That time was an opportunity for all to get to know each other and to feel the spirit of Turkish culture. Daria Jaranowska, managing director of Y4M, describes the event as a highlight: ‘The high point of one of the nights was a cultural evening at Geoaktif which made it possible to taste the cultural cuisines of Turkey, Germany, Poland, Romania and Greece among many others. It was also an opportunity to listen and dance to the melodies and rhythms of Turkish classical and pop songs. It was the first time that I danced the traditional Turkish dance Halay which was very social and integrated the group even more. The cultural evening was a great success with all people joining in and experiencing how other countries dine and what type of things they enjoy’.

However, also working time let participants discover Istanbul better. Different scenarios for recording, interviewing Turkish inhabitants and making research about the local situation were the big steps to integrate with the surrounding. ‘Filming on Istiklal Avenue, the most famous street in Istanbul, was a joy. Lots of street performers, food stands, colourful dresses, spice shops and towering buildings with interesting architecture were great objects to film and photograph’ – says Isabel Barragan Vera – participant from Germany.

Making new contacts, discussing about local problems, getting to know the cultures, training young motivated people and creating an intercultural dialog between EU and Turkey were the purposes of the first media camp of Face Up. ‘The week went so fast that the final ceremony came as a shock for me. Everything we made came out just as we wanted and showed how much passion everyone shared into it but also that it’s not always possible to put all the ideas into the project and also that some ideas have to be scrapped or re-modelled because a week is never enough to convey your thoughts and how you would like the videos to really look like’ – shares Grzegorz Konopski.

Youth4Media will continue with the project. Next trainings are planned in Greece, Romania and Germany. Experienced participants as well as beginners are welcome to continue the adventure of discovering the cultures through media.

 

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