CABAR talks: How to make a film during a pandemic

A meeting with the authors of the documentary “Plan B: Self-Rescue”.

Plan B: Self-Rescue is a short documentary film about volunteers in Kyrgyzstan who provide overwhelming assistance during a pandemic. The film was shot with the support of the CABAR.asia Media School, an IWPR CA project, as part of the Central Asia Media, Personal Media and Bloggers Mentoring Program.

Crew of film:
Azat Ruziev (@ruziev_azat) – video production coach, worked as a parliamentary correspondent, video editor for Kloop.kg, filmed for BBC, Present Time, Singapore CNN, Novaya Gazeta.
Tilek Beishenaliev (@t_beishenaliev) is a freelance videographer and editor, currently working on his vlog project “Bashta” @bashtaaaaaaa. He worked as a video editor at Kloop.kg, filmed for the BBC. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀
Nurzhamal Dzhanibekova is a freelance journalist and digital creator based in Basht. She worked in Kloop as a journalist, editor. For the past two years, she has written reports and analytics about Kyrgyzstan for the English-language edition of Eurasianet.

Timecodes:

00:00 – Introduction:
00:05:40 What does “Bashta” mean?
00:12:20 – Is it possible to shoot a documentary with a minimum set of equipment?
00:17:17 – About the language of the film. Will the content be in Kyrgyz?
00:20:08 – What obstacles were there during filming? (about pressure and prohibitions to talk to the press)
00:25:31 -Tips about filming equipment
00:26:07 – How long did it take to make the film?
00:28:14 – About money, monetization, and motivation
00:30:20 – The difference between a documentary and a caption. A little more detail on the filming process.
00:34:08 – More about the filming process of “Plan B: Self-Rescue”
00:35:30 – About self-censorship
00:41:17 – How did the pandemic affect the filming process? (security measures, responsibility, reaction of householders)
00:44:13 – Fuckups during filming
00:48:42 – Plans for the future
00:53:38 – What is worth seeing, reading, studying