Al Jazeera English is a part of the global Al Jazeera Network. As part of our ongoing interest in documentaries and developing new filmmaking talent, we are launching this Open Call for Latin American based filmmakers. We are seeking experienced filmmakers to participate in an Observational Documentary Workshop in partnership with DocMontevideo. 

Our channel specialises in News, Current Affairs and Documentaries. Our channel presents a broad array of documentary programmes which we consider to be vital to our audience's interests. Our primary observational documentary programme is WITNESS. We transmit globally and reach 250 million homes. 

Our Goal:

Our aim is to present untold stories from unheard voices. We want our films and filmmakers to provide international perspectives
and seek out people based stories that celebrate the human spirit. We want to commission films that reach beyond the headlines
and bring our audience a street level view of global events.  

Our Workshop is designed to bring together our channel's broad documentary interests and experienced filmmakers from the region with the goal of establishing an ongoing relationship for future documentary production.  

Stories we are seeking: 

We seek stories to reach our global audience that speak to a sense of empowerment, have a strong personal narrative and bring voice to issues that transcend borders; economic equity, migration, ecology, health and security, education, the arts and social justice. Latin America is undergoing great shifts and transformation and we want your reflection of these changes as expressed in your proposals.

We want to see these themes explored in a visual and artistic array of observational documentary films. We want stories that will capture the viewer with the richness of powerful characters and the strength of a well told story.

We are particularly interested in films that speak to the peacemakers and activists, artists, writers and musicians who are seeking to express their ideas, passion, art and craft. We want stories that are looking to the future of Latin America as well as those who are striving reconcile various factions that continue to foment turbulence and violence in the region and look at how they all are changing the destiny of the continent.

Our Format: All proposals submitted for consideration should incorporate the following technical and format needs;
Hi-Definition, 16:9, PAL, 25 minute programme 

Our programme has two weekly broadcast slots. One is formatted for 25 minutes and the other is for 48 minutes. We are primarlly seeking proposals that are for the 25 minute slot. If, however, we receive a proposal that is better suited for the 48 minute slot we will consider that as well.

Who can participate:

We are looking for filmmakers who can tell us a story that reflects the transformation underway in Latin America today through a personal, character led, actuality based narrative. We seek filmmakers with some proven experience, who have a commitment to documentary storytelling and want to expand their skills to meet our observational storytelling style.
 
This call is restricted to filmmakers who are based exclusively in Latin America and whose proposals are also based in Latin America. While there is some expectation that the final language found in these projects may be in Spanish or Portuguese, the filmmaker will need to have a working knowledge of English in order to fully participate in the Workshop and to foster an ongoing relationship with Al Jazeera.

To be selected for participation in the Workshop each filmmaker will need to provide an original proposal, their filmmaking history, an electronic link to any work they wish to be considered and a CV including both their films and work. The proposal can be accompanied by supporting media, such as clips or photos. Please see further detail below. This proposal must be original and new and not already committed to another broadcaster.

Any proposals presented to Al Jazeera may be considered for commissioning at the conclusion of the Workshop.

• March 30, 2012                  Workshop Candidates announced
• May 6-13, 2012                  WORKSHOP in Montevideo, Uruguay
• June, 2012                         Selected Productions submitted for AJ Approval

Place: Montevideo, UY, When: May 6-13, 2012  Costs Covered for each filmmaker: Airfare ~R/T-Montevideo~ and Hotel
(If you are part of a team, only one representative from that team will be able to attend the Workshop)

Goals of the Workshop:

• To work with filmmakers and specifically develop their Observational Documentary skills further.
• To expand the roster of Latin American filmmakers with whom Al Jazeera will commission films.
• To select from the list of proposals films that Al Jazeera English will commission in 2012.

A central goal of this Workshop is to broaden our roster of filmmakers from Latin America. To accomplish this we will establish an ongoing dialogue with every attendee at this event. Once selected as a Workshop participant the conversation between you and Al Jazeera’s team will begin.

We hope to establish an ongoing relationship with each participant and to make the Workshop a rich and useful event for all of those who attend. Though we may only select a limited number of projects for commissioning following the Workshop that will not eliminate you or your ideas from future consideration for commissioning.  

Workshop Structure:

Track 1) Editorial: Storytelling style and development: story selection, writing, and refining of producing craft.

Track 2) Production: Developing an in-depth understanding of visuals, field production skills and post production/editing skills. 

Track 3) One on One Discussion with Commissioning Editor on individual proposals

Once the Workshop is completed, filmmakers will be contacted within two weeks via email if their proposal is being considered for commissioning/production funding. 
   
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APPLICATIONS: (See Application Page) There is no application fee

>Application information to be included in each submitted 1x25 minute project proposal
>Each section must be completed fully for the application to be accepted for consideration.
 

• PRODUCER AND/OR COMPANY NAME: (include Country where you are based)

• CONTACT EMAIL and PHONE NUMBERS: (include links to any supporting materials)

• WORKING TITLE:

• EPG/SHORT BILLING (150 characters/20-30 words) What is this story?

• SYNOPSIS (100-150 words) Tell us the story in a little detail describing the key characters, scenes and elements and how the narrative will develop and resolve over the film. Let us know any unique access you may have. This synopsis is your most critical pitching note – if we can’t ‘get’ the film here we are unlikely to read further.

• DETAILED TREATMENT AND EXTRA INFORMATION (Max 500 words). This is a chance to ‘walk us through’ the film as you plan to make it so we can get a strong sense of the visual story-telling and how the narrative will unfold through key scenes and sequences. Include how the story will start, develop and resolve and describe the key 6 - 8 actuality-based scenes you plan to cover. Include a brief note on the visual and filmmaking style. Include a note about access – what you have and have not secured. If you have already shot any elements, tell us about these here briefly and include clips. At the end you can include a few short sentences/bullet points of background/context information if appropriate – not an essay, just key information to motivate the film’s relevance to us.

• BACKGROUND & FILM MAKING HISTORY OF THE TEAM WITH WHOM YOU WILL WORK ON THIS PROJECT: (Max 500 words) This is not just a biography of the director but who is the Producer, the Camera person, the Editor and what projects have you all done together or individually. You can provide Photos and Video Clips of both your existing work as well as any material that will support your proposal. 

• BUDGET/PRODUCTION FUNDING: (please provide a rough estimate of the overall budget of your proposed project. Our budget structure normally ranges between $45,000 and $100,000 USD -1x25 minutes- depending on the needs of the project. All production funding budget estimates are subject to further conversation and consideration)

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Background of the Workshop Leaders:

Jean Garner:  Witness’ Americas’ Commissioning Editor, based in Washington, DC.

Jean has been developing new talent based in Latin America since the channel launched in 2006 and will be your
primary contact from the Open Call period through the Workshop. If, at any point during this process, you have
any questions, please direct them to her.

Patricia Boero: Executive Producer based in Uruguay

Patricia Boero is a veteran of the PBS(US) system. She served as the executive director of Latin Public Broadcasting for a number of years, overseeing the expansion of their documentary roster. Patricia will play an active role in selecting filmmakers and projects for participation in the Workshop. Her role in the Workshop will be to mentor the core storytelling skills of the filmmakers, including culling story ideas, raising the understanding of observational filmmaking, broadening story-telling techniques and fostering better story structure.

Rodrigo Vazquez: Director and Filmmaker based in London and Latin America

Rodrigo Vazquez is one of the most prolific and successful contributors to Witness and to Al Jazeera. His award winning observational films speak to the core of our storytelling style and aspirations. The key strengths for observational storytelling speak to Rodrigo’s core skills, powerful visuals, and his keen eye that ties together the powerful visuals and pictures and the strength of the characters and the narrative of the story and how to craft each of these elements into the post production

process will be the focus of his sessions.

Witness Style Guide:

Our films must be visually compelling and in the voice of strong central characters. At the core of our style is observational storytelling. We are looking for films where images are key and stories are rich in character. We want to see the development of both the characters as well as the story itself over the course of the film. Your characters have to have a voice that carries through the film in a clear arc that the viewer can understand and follow. There must also be actuality in your film so that there are scenes where we see events happen involving the characters.

We would like to see scenes and sequences that are critical to the story line. These can be tender, small moments of intimacy or they can be larger scenes that are big and dramatic. But through each we much learn more about what is happening in the story and what is happening with your main characters.

In terms of how this is captured in a film; it can be told to us exclusively through the main characters, of which there should not be more than just a couple over a half hour film length, or there can some minimal voice over to guide the viewer through those moments in the story line that need a short bridge. There also needs to be a coherent order to the film's structure and clear sequences. We seek films where there is more than simply a mix of interview and covering images. We seek scenes where events happen and sequences unfold and the story is revealed.

We want to see stories that reflect the personality of a community and the changes underway in those communities. This can include elements of art and music and the more lyrical sides of life in addition to those that delve into the more serious aspects of a community undergoing change.  
 

If your film is subtitled, please be mindful that the audience you reach predominately speaks English as a second language so if your film has subtitles, please factor in the right kind of pacing so that the visual richness of the story is not lost. If the text needs to be adjusted, please be aware that the text must remain editorially true. 

The goal of our observational documentaries is to bring our audience into the experience as much as possible, to give them an opportunity to discover and explore the story you bring them. In part this will be accomplished not just in the film itself but also beyond the broadcast through an active online presence.

While the primary effort of any production will result in a 25 minute film, all filmmakers who are commissioned will be expected to contribute actively to an online presence associated with the film. 
 

The links below are to films we consider to be some of our best programmes and reflect the different styles we have embraced.
They represent the intersection of important issues blended with powerful characters and a compelling artistic style. It is strongly encouraged that you take the time needed to view these films to gain a better understanding of our expectations and style.

 
Links to Witness films:
 

Twin Towers: The View from New Jersey (USA) 

Sweet Dreams (Rwanda)

Child Miners (Bolivia)

Saving the Leopard (Yemen)  

Dream on Hold (South Sudan) 

Deadliest Beat (Mexico) 

 
Queen of the Jungle (Peru)

Hard Road Back (Colombia)

To view additional films from this programme please go to the following link: www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness

Additional Notes: If there is an hour long project it will be considered. If there is a project that is more suitable for one of our other programmes (www.aljazeera.com/programmes) we will direct you to the editors of the programme. If there are existing projects that
filmmakers feel we might find of interest please feel free to send it to us for further consideration. 

Al Jazeera English is part of the larger Al Jazeera Network. This includes our Al Jazeera Documentary Channel (Middle East and North Africa) our newest channels in Turkey, the Balkans and soon in east Africa. Each of these channels includes documentaries as part of their programming format. Each proposal that is submitted to us will be shared with our entire Network for further consideration beyond the Workshop.

Al Jazeera Open Call will consider:

• Proposals for a 16:9, HD format, 25 minute documentary programme.
• Works-in-progress, i.e. projects that have already begun production
• Programmes that can be completed within 5 to 6 months of commissioning

Al Jazeera Open Call will not consider:

• Subject matter based outside of Latin America
• Proposals for completed projects seeking acquisition and distribution
• Series proposals or fictional dramas
• Feature length and/or Projects intended solely for theatrical release

Selection Process for Commissioned Films:

Each proposal that is considered for commissioning will be subject to Al Jazeera Editorial and Budgetary approval and Al Jazeera English’s standard commissioning practices.

All rights to the commissioned films will be retained by Al Jazeera and any licensed materials included will need to be cleared to reflect this. 

Those proposals chosen for commissioning will be decided based on the merits of the proposal, and at the discretion of Al Jazeera’s commissioning editors.

The budget for any film considered for commissioning/production funding will be in-line with our standard budget parameters for our documentaries.

If you and your project are not among those selected for this Workshop it does NOT eliminate you from further consideration for commissioning by Al Jazeera or Witness.

Questions? Please contact Jean Garner +202 496 4423 or witness@aljazeera.net