By Andrew Garton for apc.au

KUCHING, SARAWAK, Malaysia, 24 December 2008

Video, native title and the internet provides outlet for communities affected by the development of the second of twelve dams proposed for Sarawak, the second largest state of Malaysia on the island of Borneo.

Australian APC member and prolific producer of community media and online projects, is producing a self-funded micro docs series titled Sarawak Gone.

Sarawak Gone explores four remote Bidayuh communities accessible only by foot within an hour’s drive from Kuching, capital city of Sarawak. They will lose their livelihood, traditional lands and culture, their rights and heritage with the development of the controversial Bengoh Dam project.

Note only does the project document aspects of the campaign to assert the rights of indigenous communities in Sarawak, it is providing a vehicle for the documentation of oral histories which in themselves assist in defining native title boundaries where GPS and / or government surveyors may not.

Sarawak Gone is intended to raise awareness to the denigration of the rapidly dwindling societies on the island of Borneo, the native land titles at stake and the rapidly decreasing habitats for protected and endangered flora and fauna.

Micro-docs are short, 5 – 10 minute documentaries designed for online distribution and portable media devices and laptop screening events. Sarawak Gone will be launched mid-August 2008.

For more information read Rengah Sarawak or the project description on the apc.au wiki.

http://rengah.c2o.org
http://wiki.apc.org.au

(END/2008)