Africa video is done – Working with my son on Burundi Documentary

In June of 2013 my son Zach and I accompanied 8 others to visit, assess, and assist a marginalized people group in the small central-Africa country of Burundi. Watch the documentary below.

On a personal note, it was an amazing opportunity to work with my son on a project such as this. Not only did we get to travel to a distant country together and spend 10 days away from our regular routines, we got to bring our passions and skills together to create something meaningful. Zach shot primary HD takes and I shot mostly b-roll and aerial with a GoPro camera. During the experience we collaborated with our team on story development and got to know our subject matter on a very personal and intimate level. It was a life changing event and a unique chance for my son and I to relate as adults and professionals.

Our primary role was to film, observe, and document our findings. Over the course of the past 8 weeks we, along with our Burundi missions team, developed a storyboard/script, sorted thru hundreds of video clips, edited and produced this 10-minute documentary. Here’s the story of the Batwa people in the small village of Bugenyuzi.

Burundi is about the size of the state of Maryland with a population of around 10 million. It’s been said to be one of the 5 poorest countries in the world. 80% of the population live in poverty. The Batwa represent about 1.5% of the population and are only allowed to live in the mountain sides where the soil is rocky and clay like. There is very little food security, access to clean water, medical care, and basic education.

Zach Yonek: producer, editor, pre/post
Gary Yonek: pre/post director, writer, narration
Jay Halley, Donna Gassett: story development, production assist
Kate Jones: media prep, post editing assistant, developer opening sequence.
Music: courtesy of Videoblocks royalty free/ used with permission.