Audiovisuals for committed global citizenship

What exactly is Global Citizenship Education?

GCED helps citizens understand challenges related to inequality, extreme poverty, injustice, migration, various societal crises, global geopolitics, and international relations. GCED goes beyond just education: it engages citizens to become active participants in creating innovative and solidarity-based solutions, and it supports initiatives that foster a society respectful of living beings and their environment. It also plays a crucial role in political advocacy, enhancing the coherence of policies in favour of sustainable development. This approach promotes active and critical citizenship, which is vital for tackling the complex challenges of the 21st century.

Why audiovisuals?

In this context, the Belgian Development Cooperation provides financial support for audiovisual creation through GCED. Why audiovisuals? Because it is one of the most powerful tools to reach a wide audience, evoke empathy, spark debates, and showcase the complex realities of the world. Cinema, television, digital media, and even video games thus become gateways to active, critical, and solidarity-based global citizenship. These projects must address issues related to global challenges while primarily targeting a Belgian audience. The aim is to produce content that is accessible, impactful, and meaningful.

The goal is to highlight compelling stories that resonate with our daily lives while emphasizing our interconnectedness with the rest of the world. Collaborations with actors in the cooperation sector (NGOs, academics, or international agencies) are encouraged to enrich content and ensure strong educational support. A key aspect of these productions is their tangible link to the daily lives of the Belgian public. The idea is to show how stories told here and elsewhere are intertwined, how consumer choices, public policies, climate crises, and migration dynamics echo across the globe.

A few examples of funding

"Amal": This film tells the story of a teacher in a Brussels school who encourages her students to cultivate a love for reading and to champion freedom of expression, even at the risk of putting herself in danger. Through her bold teaching methods, she will profoundly impact her students' lives. This film, awarded at numerous festivals, addresses strong and impactful societal themes such as youth radicalisation, (cyber) bullying in schools, racism, the challenges of teaching, and the discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals.

"Soundtrack to a Coup d’État": This film takes us to the heart of the political and social upheaval in the Democratic Republic of Congo following independence, where music plays a central role in telling the story of a country in transition. The film highlights the impact of coups d'état, the search for stability, and the resilience of the population in the face of significant challenges.

"Kinderen van de kolonie" (Children of the colony): In this five-part documentary series, people who experienced firsthand the colonial period share their stories about colonial and postcolonial Congo and how the colonial legacy has shaped their lives. In one episode, six Congo experts delve into the issue of the postcolonial image and separate fact from fiction about Belgian Congo.

"Draw for Change": This series spotlights six female cartoonists from around the world who challenge boundaries and social norms. Each episode features a cartoonist who gives viewers a glimpse into her world, revealing not only the obstacles and dangers she faces but also the courage and spirit she shows in overcoming them. Filming took place in Mexico, Russia, India, Syria, Egypt, and the United States, with each country presenting its own unique challenges. This six-episode series addresses themes such as femicide, freedom of the press, and female representation. One episode in particular has been adapted into a virtual reality format.