We Have Power

The Village Hive model was created to dismantle the structural root causes of poverty and replace dependence on charity with locally owned public systems of social support. The film addresses issues of disempowerment and explores community led solutions of self-reliance and local leadership – the right of people and communities to be in control of the decisions that impact their own lives. The bigger picture theme that the film points to is the collective power that we have to change the systems that aren’t working for the majority of people in our global community – issues that many people worldwide are rising to meet. The film explores these larger themes by setting the story in its historical colonial context of how the foreign aid and development sector became so prevalent in Cambodia and also explores the current systems of extraction of wealth that flows from the global north to the global north.

We envision ‘We Have Power’ sparking a global conversation about meaningful systems change in the aid sector. Our aim is for the film to be a lighthouse and catalyst, lifting communities out of poverty and disempowerment an into self-reliance across Cambodia and the global South. We see the film being screened widely – across public broadcasters in the global North, targeted film festivals and community screenings both in Cambodia and key nations engaged in the aid sector, fueling a donor led shift in the industry. The campaign will then open to global conferences and online distribution, further inspiring donors to support the Village Hive and similar systems change programs across the global South, forging a strong network of partners and change makers who will connect via a central hub where donors can engage and support these organisations. We aim to inspire the next generations of change makers though educational toolkits and workshops on community led solutions to systems change.

We have run an initial workshop and are planning to host a more in depth impact workshop with our key contributors, now that the film is close to completion. To co-design the film’s purpose, reach and impact in the world.
Our initial impact goals are:
– Amplify the voices and strength based stories of Khmer local leaders and community. Show how capable, caring and loving Khmer families and people are, addressing stereotypes about Cambodian people.
– Connect with the donor community in Australia, US and Canada, UK, France/ Europe, creating awareness and behaviour change
– Raise global awareness of the problems of the conventional model of aid and draw attention to the Village Hive social protection model and other NGOs and charities working to support systems change.
– Influence donors, policymakers and NGO leadership to shift the ways the sector is working.
– Engage students through creative, educational resources.
– Support social justice campaigning for lasting systems change.

In 2022 the team at the Cambodian Children’s Trust (CCT) for the first time ever, handed back power and control of social services to local council leaders working in the public sector in Ou Char, Battambang, under the Village Hive initiative. Joseph Purdam was invited to attend and film this ceremony and this event formed the beginning of close relationships that have come to shape this film. As CCT continued to shift their ways of working to a 100% Khmer controlled and operated team on the ground and lead the way for significant change within the sector, core team members Tara Winkler and Keir Drinnan stepped into funding support roles within the organisation from Australia.

As filmmakers, Becka and Joseph have been invited to see this project become a reality. Stewarding a story of both profound importance and nuance. A film that is a beacon of hope showing what is possible with radical new ways of working with community. We’ve now travelled to Cambodia three times and have been welcomed into the lives of families we now call friends. These relationships have profoundly shifted our perspectives and our lives, allowing us to see clearly that there is a brighter, more empowered path forward.

While the film has partly been funded by Cambodian Children’s Trust (CCT), it is not an advocacy piece for them. CCT have an exit strategy and are very much working towards their own redundancy. Joseph and Becka have full creative control and the rights to this project. While we are working collaboratively with CCT, full creative control rests with us, the filmmakers.

A direct call to action to the donor community.

Wording tbc
‘The current aid sector is ineffective and disempowering.
We need your support to shift the outdated mindset of the aid sector. To fund programs that actually strengthen the public system, empower communities and significantly raise the standard of living within them.
Donate directly to the Village Hive communties and organisations who are bringing about lasting systems change’.

Logos of organisations / partners provided in the credits