Making a Difference

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

In the documentary "Making a Difference" we follow academic Reinier Vriend and film maker Kuba Szutkowski in their mission to have 'doing good' done better.

Their approach?

Being specific. They will fight for transparency in the elusive world of international volunteering.

It is about time that the volunteer industry is probed.  Because yes, international volunteering has gotten industry proportions. Not everything that volunteers are asked to do in far away places is aimed at the help of others and the interests of involved companies are often dubious.

But how do you make a critical movie about a phenomenon that at its core is based on people's good intentions?

Reinier and Kuba go on a tour to investigate a number of prospective volunteers and volunteer professionals in the Netherlands. As more of the complex world of voluntourism becomes apparent, they become more and more involved in the subject matter, blurring the line between subject and observer.
 

And thus they take the plunge. Instead of simply filming volunteer companies and their volunteers, Kuba and Reinier change their perspectives from onlookers to participants. Together with Brechtje Boeke, a documentary maker in the development sector, they form their own non-profit to improve transparency in voluntourism: Volunteer Correct.

A result of this sudden move is that Reinier and Kuba become the protagonists in “Making a Difference”. We follow them during the founding of their volunteer organization and when they set out with a group of volunteers to document the volunteer industry in Cape Town, South Africa. The ambition is to create a self-sufficient control mechanism. By and for volunteers.

With the statutory goals of “promoting transparency and accountability in international volunteering”, the organization starts preparing “Project Cape Town”, a  17 day project for which 12 paying volunteers are selected. The project will take place in February 2015 in Cape Town. And while the volunteers film the volunteer industry, we film the process.

So through a group of young (at mind) idealistic Western volunteers, a group of South African peers, two curious filmmakers and a journalistic project, themes like guilt, need, help, exploitation, global imbalance come to light.

"Making a Difference" will offer personal insights, show rifts in understanding between people, and is expected to confront both volunteers and the filmmakers with presumptions and assumptions they carried into the project.

YOUR SUPPORT

The film project “Making a Difference” started as our own investment. Not only did the starting up and running of our non-profit Volunteer Correct cost us time and money, but also the film project would not exist without the necessary volunteer work.

We do not aim to regain the money we sunk into the film project, but to give the documentary a fair chance, we need your help. The largest part of the costs for “Project Cape Town” is carried by the volunteers, but a current hole in the budget is covered by funds from the film project's budget. Added to that are the costs for professional editing (we will have hundreds of hours of material) and post-production, without which the movie will not acquire the standing it deserves. For this we are dependent on the support you can give us.

Help us get doing good done better

The Dutch government has marked those who donate to the CineCrowd foundation for considerable tax advantages.

TIME FRAME

In 2009 Reinier starts researching the topic of voluntourism in Cape Town, South Africa.
In 2012 Kuba and Reinier starts to investigate the possibility for a documentary on voluntourism
Beginning of 2014, Kuba and Reinier decide to start filming without any financial backing
27 september 2014 Volunteer Correct is founded and Brechtje Boeke is included as a board member and co-maker
October-December 2014 official selection volunteers Project Cape Town
13 januari 2015 launch Cinecrowd campaign for 30 days until 12 February 2015
4 - 21 February 2015 “Project Cape Town”, reporting in South Africa
March - April 2015 post production Making a Difference
3 March 2014 Volunteer Correct and Making a Difference preview at Cineblend
October 2015 official release  of "Making a Difference"