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CINEMATIC ACTIVISM!
Documentary Filmmaking Workshop
Dates: November 11–16, 2025
Location: Helsinki
Tutor: Martin Fazeli – Multi-Award-Winning Director/Producer & Activist
Introduction
Documentary filmmaking is not just about observation — it’s about intervention. It’s about entering reality with a camera and emerging with truth. In a time when misinformation floods our feeds and silence surrounds injustice, the documentary becomes a weapon — a form of cinematic activism.
Led by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Hossein Martin Fazeli, this 6-day intensive workshop invites participants to explore how film can shake complacency, ignite empathy, and inspire transformation.
Through screenings, fieldwork, and hands-on creation, participants will not only learn how to make great films but why they matter. Together, we’ll craft short documentaries that confront urgent social, environmental, and human realities — from Helsinki’s neighborhoods to the wider world.
Workshop Overview
- Duration: 6 Days (Nov 11–16, 2025)
- Format: In-person, project-based
- Outcome: Group-created short documentary film(s)
- Participants: Filmmakers, artists, students, and human rights advocates
- Language: English
- Fee: €250
Learning Objectives
- Grasp the ethics and power dynamics of documentary storytelling.
- Develop visual storytelling, editing skills, and smart distribution strategies.
- Learn how activism and artistry can coexist within cinematic language.
- Produce short, issue-driven documentaries that merge creativity with conscience.
Workshop Schedule
- Day 1 – Nov 11: Welcome, orientation, screenings, and lecture — Film Activism & The Ethics of Truth in Cinema
- Day 2 – Nov 12: Research, narrative design, and interview mastery
- Day 3 – Nov 13: Fieldwork and one-on-one mentoring with Martin Fazeli
- Day 4 – Nov 14: Cinematic language, visual storytelling, and technical execution
- Day 5 – Nov 15: Editing as activism — structure, rhythm, and emotional impact
- Day 6 – Nov 16: Final edits, screenings, and feedback
Director’s Bio – Hossein Martin Fazeli
Hossein Martin Fazeli is a multi-award-winning director whose films have earned more than 45 international awards, celebrated for their emotional honesty and social insight.
His 2007 production, The Tale of Two Nazanins, about a teenage girl imprisoned on death row in Iran, was broadcast on major international networks including the BBC and CNN, and is credited with sparking a global campaign that saved her life.
Recipient of the Sundance Institute’s International Filmmaker Award, Fazeli has lectured internationally at leading institutions such as MIT, SOAS, and the European Film Academy.
He believes cinema can be a moral act — a dialogue between conscience and creativity.