To Be A Human Being

Cast

Producers: Tanya Valette, Russel Porter.

Synopsis

To be a Human Being is a series of six full-length documentaries made in eight diverse communities around the world by young filmmakers from film schools in seven different countries. It is a celebration of humanity, based on a simple premise that emerged from a conversation with a female subsistence farmer in Kenya in 1986 - What we have in common is very big, and what is different between us is very interesting. The six universal human characteristics identified by the Kenyan farmer form the themes for the six Chapters of the series - Sustenance, Love, Culture, Faith, Fear and Hope. The series was produced and coordinated by the International Film and TV School (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, with other participating film schools from India, New Zealand, Portugal, Jordan, Spain and New York.

Director's Bio

Russell Porter is an Australian documentary filmmaker, writer and teacher with over thirty years of experience. He has won several Australian and international awards for his films. Many of them deal with cross-cultural and social issues, and the relationship between science and society. He is a Tenured Faculty member at Columbia College Chicago working in the Documentary Program. He is also the head of the Documentary Department at the EICTV (International Film and Television School) in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. He was the general producer of To Be a Human Being.