Video for Change

Pictures from Abu Ghraib showed the power of the amateur image to grab the world's attention. The Asian tsunami, caught on camcorder, brought home the reality of what had happened more than any news report ever could. Around the world the increasing availability and affordability of technology has fuelled the world of social justice video activism. Film-making - at its best - has the power to change the way people think, and create real social change, and now the tools to do it are more accessible than ever before. This book shows how activists and human rights campaigners can harness the power of images and stories for their own purposes - it's a step-by-step guide to the handicam revolution.

Written by leading video activists, and staff of the world-renowned human rights organization WITNESS, this practical handbook will appeal to experienced campaigners as well as aspiring video activists. It combines a comprehensive analysis of what's going on in this growing global field with a how-to primer to doing it yourself.

Sam Gregory is the Programme Director at WITNESS, a project that trains and supports activists around the world to use video safely, ethically, and effectively to expose human rights abuse. He also teaches on human rights and participatory media as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School and is the co-editor of Video for Change (Pluto, 2005).

Gillian Caldwell is a campaigner, lawyer and CEO at Global Witness. She is the co-editor of Video for Change (Pluto, 2005).

Ronit Avni is a filmmaker, human rights advocate and the founder of Just Vision, a non-profit organisation that documents and creates media about Palestinian and Israeli grassroots leaders involved in peacebuilding. She is the co-editor of Video for Change (Pluto, 2005).

Thomas Harding is the best-selling author of Hanns and Rudolf (2013), and the co-founder of Undercurrents, Britain's first video news service. He is a leading voice in international video activism and has written for the Independent, Guardian, New Statesman and New Internationalist. He is the co-editor of Video for Change (Pluto, 2005) and The Video Activist Handbook (Pluto, 2001).