Profile Spotlight: Mirella Domenich

[Profile Spotlights]

Mirella Domenich is a reporter who will be filming daily life in Guiena-Bissau on 10.10.10. You can see more of her work at: www.minibusmedia.org

and on her blog at: http://minhavidanaafrica.blogspot.com

Who are you and what is your profession?
My name is Mirella Domenich, I am 32, from Brazil. I am a journalist with an MA in International Relations and Development Studies.

Can you tell us a little about your background and upbringing, and what inspired you to be a filmmaker?
I have been working as a journalist since I entered university, in 1996. I have worked for several Brazilian magazines and newspapers. From 2004 on my career has changed a bit. I started to teach others how to cover news. In that year,a friend of mine, called Christian Goertz, and I created Minibus Media (www.minibusmedia.org), a small consultant company which aims at teaching people to document the real life and use the media to do activism focusing on development. This idea came once we both were filming the 3rd Malawian National elections and we realized it would be interesting to teach local people to do the same.

I believe in the power of media (video, audio, press, internet) to bring about development and I do believe that filmmaking is not just for professionals. It is for all of us. I don't consider myself a filmmaker, even though I have produced a couple of documentaries. I do consider me a citizen who has found out how fun, challenging and inspiring is to film the daily life, to give people a voice, and to bring images about the reality. This is what inspires me to film, or to take pictures or to write. On not such a regular basis, I publsh some texts and images at my blog: http://minhavidanaafrica.blogspot.com.

I forgot to say that I am now living and working in Bissau, in Guinea-Bissau, and that get to know Africa was my childhood dream, which I realized in 2003. This was when I found out the past of my own country.

What are your heroes?
For sure, Cebola, a little orphan boy I got to know in Mozambique in 2003, who thought me how we could be happy in life under any circumstances.

What story do you want to tell on 10.10.10?
Well, I want to film in a place where there are lots of people passing through, probably in the port. My idea is to show the daily life here, and the hardworking people who have to fight to survive every single day.

I will try to gather a group of people who want to film and take pictures, so we could get many views of the same facts.

Why is this important to you?
To show to people outside Guinea-Bissau how hardworking are people from her and badly are the conditions of life and working.

Trailer-The making of a President from MINIBUSMEDIA on Vimeo.