Somewhere around the intersection of two of our favorite radio sites, Transom and PRX, is a new web stop that popped up out of nowhere. Well, actually out of somewhere.
Italy to be exact.
Always eager to find another place to listen and read about our favorite medium, we saw that DocuSound does radio training in a growing list of countries. But they also showcase the work of producers -- some you probably know, others you'll be glad you discovered.
Short of a trip to Italy, we had to find out Che succede? And DocuSound's Fabrizia Galvagno was happy to oblige.
Docusound is a newcomer to radio producers -- at least in the U.S. When did you start and how would you describe the site?
Fabrizia: DOCUSOUND started in 2010, when myself and my colleagues Matteo Bellizzi and Andrea Vaccari (we all come from video documentary) decided to start working with a new perspective; we liked telling stories but we were looking for a fresh way to do it.
When we decided to crop the images out of our way of telling stories we turned to the Italian Union of the Blind to ask them to be our guides/mentors into their new world of sounds we were entering. The blind loved the project because it allowed them to be producer of their own content: working with sound puts the sighted and the non-sighted on the same level (actually the visually impaired have a much mo developed ability to listen and tell stories without images!).
From the very beginning idea was not to have an editorial line or an agenda, but rather to set QUALITY as our only rule: we feature quality products, no matter what the subject is, and we look for personal stories, personal approaches, unique angles. We are not journalists, in the sense that we don not cover current affairs, we are after creative storytelling.
DOCUSOUND Is an international project, we aim at having chapters in every country of the world. For this reason we have 2 types of websites: the international one (www.docusound.org) and the national ones (we have Italy for now www.docusound.it, soon we will have Kenya and Senegal and hopefully we'll have the US as we'll, and France and the UK and so on).
The national sites feature stories in he language of the country, stories that resonate with the culture, the issues and the hot topics of the country. Some of them can be subtitled and be shared on the international sitewww.docusound.org
The site www.docusound.org is the "international" umbrella of the DOCUSOUND project: we feature a description of the project and a selection of documentaries in their original language, with or without subtitles.
We also feature our media literacy program, which is the way we start up chapters in the developing countries (or abroad, in a wider sense). The media literacy program is open to minorities and we are very proud of it because, to our knowledge, it is unheard of: usually minorities are non considered at all, or segregated in a specific initiative, whereas for DOCUSOUND it is key that we mix people from all backgrounds (including the handicapped, the ethnic minorities, the undeserved groups...). We think that working together is the best way to make barriers between groups crush and bias dissolve.
The trainees are selected with a project and throughout 9 months they will write/produce/distribute their documentaries.
What are your goals?
Fabrizia: We have two goals:
1) to produce and distribute high quality inspiring professionally-produced stories that have an impact on the community
2) to get disadvantaged people to acquire the skills to advocate for themselves and share their stories.
As I said before it was the need to get a fresh perspective on my job that pushed me towards radio documentaries. I discovered a new way of telling stories, and I realized that certain stories are better told in audio than in video. It's still a new world I am exploring and I am excited at every small new discover! I am not a seasoned radio producer, I am learning.
You personally started in film and video doc production. What caused you to become a producer and curator of audio docs and features?
