smallpower

about

Smallpower is making music videos, TV shows, and short films in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our work is crafted to promote realistic beliefs about disease and violence and to encourage viewers to make informed choices about their health and well being.

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pictures and video
Totia Stop na SIDA by Jean Goubald (14.3 MB, 4:10)
Description
Download the small version (14.3 MB) or the medium-sized version (20.5 MB)
Janine Film Still
Description
Janine plays Bibiche, the family's neighbor; her volatile rivalry with Therésè over their competing salons takes an unexpected turn when she suggests they become business partners. See it larger
Fally IPUPA in Color
Description
Making more progress on the Fally IPUPA video for Le SIDA Est Là. See it larger
Papa Wemba in concert
Description
A still from footage we shot of Papa Wemba in concert. See it bigger
Vigilance tous Azimuts by Alain M'pela (12.3 MB, 4:13)
Description
Directed and animated by Eun-Ha Paek for Smallpower.

Download the small version (12.3 MB) or the medium-sized version (17.4 MB)
Still From Upcoming Fally Ipupa Video
Description
I'm lining up footage for a video for Fally IPUPA's song Le SIDA Est Là (also starring Candy NKUNKU) and liked this image. See it larger
Nikese Film Still
Description
Nikese plays Coco-di-coco, a kinois driver working for a family that's just starting up a taxi business. He sees the white man who he thought was a recruiter for a european football team working at a road-side construction site and pulls over to ask a comrade who he really is. See it larger
Candy On Set
Description
Filming a music video against sexual violence, featuring Candy NKUNKU. See it larger
Yves Film Still
Description
Yves plays Sony, a local football star who believes that he's been infected with HIV by an ex-girlfriend. He's walking to the field with his friend Constant when he notices that they're passing by an HIV testing center. Yves makes up an excuse and sends Constant on ahead, watching until he's out of sight so that he can investigate the center. See it larger
Monzon and Karmapa
Description
Congolese musician Karmapa (left) and crew member Monzon on the set. See it larger.
Still From Upcoming Jean Goubald Video
Description
A still from a Jean Goubald video I'm working on. The song is Totia Stop na SIDA. See it larger
Hugor Film Still
Description
Hugor plays an AIDS orphan travelling to Kinshasa to join his uncle's family. He's being ferried to the parcel by Coco-Di-Coco, a taxi driver and friend of the family. Coco-Di-Coco tells an outlandish story about visiting a sorcerer to influence the outcome of a football game; as Hugor's character listens, his eyes grow wide with fear. See it larger
Waiting for Results
Description
Congolese musician Karmapa's dancers and musicians play people waiting for their HIV test results. As the seconds tick by, their fidgeting and shuffling synchronizes into a dance. This is a behind-the-scenes photo from the day of the shoot. See it larger.
 
blog

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m releasing the code for the Flash video player we’re using on the site. I created a page at Google Code where you can check out the code, or just download the compiled .swf and point it at your own video files.

I’ve got a short list of functional and visual improvements I’d like to make, but I’m planning on keeping it very simple. Take a look and let me know if you have any suggestions.

Apr 11, 2008, by Tomas Apodaca

Hello, and welcome to the brand new smallpower.org! We’ll be using this site to talk about our work and to share techniques we learn and tools we create along the way.

To start with, I can tell you that I designed and built this site with TextMate and CSSEdit. I used the Blueprint CSS framework to get the layout looking the way I wanted it, and we’re using ExpressionEngine to manage the content.

The design was influenced by clean, dense sites like Catalogtree, Gelitin, Jennifer Daniel, and UPSO. I like the way those sites show the depth and range of the work being presented without overwhelming or confusing you.

At launch, the site is this single page. As we fill it with more pictures, videos, and words, the site will grow to accommodate with archives, project pages, and author profiles; other standards such as comments are on the slate as well.

I wrote the Flash video player that we’re using, and I’ll be releasing the code under the BSD public license shortly. I’ll have more details about that in my next post. In the meantime, feel free to subscribe to our RSS or Atom feed so you can follow along.

Apr 03, 2008, by Tomas Apodaca