David Fedele’s e-wasteland: a visual portrait of unregulated electronic waste recycling in Ghana

You might remember David Fedele from the featured interview in Issue 3 of Gorilla Film Magazine. He’s the passionate documentary guerilla filmmaker responsible for PNG style (awarded Best Documentary at the Portobello Film Festival 2010) and Bikpela Bagarap, a film that explores illegal Logging in Papua New guinea. David’s a nice chap, refreshingly down to earth and eager to make a positive change in the world. He fell into filmmaking accidently (PNG style was originally just a way to document his trip and combat loneliness) but has since used it effectively as a tool to tell the human side of current events. His lack of experience as a professional filmmaker turned out to be a positive thing, as his work has an incredibly natural and honest feel, setting him a world apart from sensationalist and manipulative “documentaries” (such as the famous Kony video).

David Fedele’s latest film is e-wasteland, a visual portrait of unregulated e-waste (electronic waste) recycling in Ghana, West Africa, where electronics are not seen for what they once were, but rather for what they have become.

Here’s some information (copy and pasted) from the official site: In developing countries, the demand for second-hand electronic equipment is growing, due to increasing connection to the “global world”, and an inability to afford brand new products. Every year, around 200,000 tonnes of second-hand and condemned electrical goods arrive in Ghana, West Africa, mainly received from the “developed” world. Many of the electronics are nearing the end of their life when they arrive, and will soon be discarded as e-waste. A significant volume of electronics actually arrive as e-waste, exported illegally as second hand goods. 

e-wasteland is set entirely at Agbogbloshie slum in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Agbogbloshie is home to between 30,000 – 40,000 settlers, mainly from the poorer Northern regions of Ghana. It is also the largest e-waste dump site in Africa. Generally uneducated and with few employable skills, many of the settlers at Agbogbloshie are forced to make a small living salvaging and recycling e-waste. 

Find out more by visiting the e-wasteland website. You can also follow the project on Facebook.

Filmmaker David Fedele chats about his new documentary Bikpela Bagarap

Bikpela Bagarap is an independent documentary by Australian filmmaker David Fedele. The film explores the human face of illegal logging in Papua New Guinea, an island less than 200km from the northern tip of Australia, and is essential viewing for anyone who cares about the environment, the welfare of their fellow human beings, and the unsustainable future we are creating through corruption and greed. A story of the exploitation of people who find themselves forced into dealing with the problems of a world they never really chose to be a part of in the first place.

David Fedele: I had been to Papua New Guinea once before in 2006, where I spent 3 months traveling solo around the country, and made my first ever documentary called “PNG Style”. This was more a “film-by-accident” than anything else, as I had never picked up a video camera before, and used it as a way to document my experiences and combat loneliness. This film went on to win “Best Documentary” at Portobello Film Festival 2010.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth, with over 900 different languages and cultural groups. It occupies the Eastern half of the island of New Guinea and is home to one of the richest rainforests in the world. However, it today remains one of the few countries in the world that still allows the export of raw logs, and this is greatly exploited by Asian logging companies. The World Bank estimates that 70% of all logging in Papua New Guinea is illegal, although most unofficial sources put the rate even higher than that.

The issues raised in this film effect all of us, as most of the timber logged from Papua New Guinea ends up as timber decking and outdoor furniture in the “western world”, yet we have absolutely no idea about the story behind it.

When I decided to return to PNG in December 2010, I had the general idea of a film that I wanted to make – to document the “human face” of illegal logging in PNG, and give a voice to the local indigenous communities that are being exploited by Malaysian logging companies and corrupt politicians. But I had no idea how I was actually going to make this film. I just bought myself a ticket, and three weeks later found myself in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.

When I first arrived, I just started talking to people and tried to find out as much as I could about the issues. When I explained to people that I wanted to document their struggle, they were more than willing to help me in whatever way necessary, to ensure that their story be heard.

And wherever I went, I heard exactly the same stories. Customary landowners being forced to sign documents that they don’t understand, for the promise of “development” – fresh water, health and education, but these essential services were rarely provided. Traditionally, the local communities rely on the forest to survive, but their traditional hunting grounds are being destroyed, waterways polluted, and their way of life ruined forever.

My background is not in filmmaking at all, so I have never really been taught the “right” way to go about making documentary films. I am not interested in having a crew with me – just myself and a small camera. That’s how I like to work. Also, as this film was exploring such sensitive issues, I had to keep as low a profile as I could. A lot of the film was shot undercover in two of the main logging camps deep in the jungle, and the surrounding villages. The only way to access these camps and villages was on the logging roads themselves, travelling on the vehicles of the logging companies.

To avoid detection, I couldn’t stay in the logging camps for more than a few days at a time, so I found it difficult to follow particular characters throughout the film. Instead, I decided to combine many peoples’ stories into a narrative that could be followed. I wanted to give as many and varied people as possible the opportunity to be heard and have their stories told.

I am very proud of the resulting film BIKPELA BAGARAP (which loosely translates to “Big Damage”). I produced, funded, filmed and edited the film myself, and though this has provided me with many challenges, it has also allowed me to make exactly the film that I wanted to make.

The biggest challenge however about making a film like this totally independently (without a production company, commissioning editor or distributor), is now getting the film seen by as wide an audience as possible. I have made the film available to watch for free online, and am going to use human rights film festivals around the world to promote the film. It screened at its first festival last week (Agitprop Film Festival for Peoples’ Struggles – Manila, Philippines) and was extremely well received. I am looking forward to getting this film out into the world, to raise awareness of what is happening in Papua New Guinea.

Check out the trailer of Bikpela Bagarap below, and if you like what you see, go watch the full film by clicking on this link.
And don’t forget to follow the project on Facebook.