Big stories, small towns: Banlung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Big Stories: Banlung was an experiment in participatory media interfacing with a global platform for showcasing community stories in a development setting, coupled with a detailed review (in Potter, 2014). The project sought to work with local communities and people to highlight stories of change in the area around Banlung and the impact on ethnic minority groups in terms of losing land, language and culture. The work was also an attempt to add to both the practice and literature of participatory processes in the field of Communication for Development which many (e.g. Lie and Mandler, 2009) observe is under-reviewed. The work was produced in collaboration between Australian and Cambodian filmmakers, two local content producers from Tampuon and Kreung ethnic minorities, two Tampuon communities and a community based NGO Non Timber Forest Products. We addressed issues of how Tampuon communities were seeking to sustain their community in the face of change. 27 short documentaries were produced and multiple other media including photo essays and a standalone website on the Big Stories, Small Towns platform: http://bigstories.com.au/towns/banlun