Film features twist on storytelling

Tonight, the ancient tradition of storytelling will combine with the latest technology to create a fusion of new media and technology.\nAzuka Nzegwu, a Telecommunications graduate student, and Lanlan Kuang, a graduate student in Folklore, will showcase their multimedia presentations about culture and storytelling at 6 p.m. in the Radio and Television Building in Room 245.\nThe event, titled "Bringing Stories to Life with Digital Technology," is sponsored by Masters Immersive Media Environments and the IU Department of Telecommunications. \nNzegwu, who is studying in the Masters in Immersive Meditated Environments program, created a documentary called "A Different World" to showcase the ancient stories of three different cultures: Chinese, Indian and Nigerian. \nIn creating the documentary, she photographed and interviewed three students who immigrated to America to pursue higher education: Kuang of China, Sugato Dutt of India and Patrick Okorududu of Nigeria. \nThe film, which is completely in black and white, has a trailer available online at http://mypage.iu.edu/~anzegwu/adw.htm.\nThe film examines the lives of the new immigrant, foreign student and new American and issues related to jobs, school and cultural beliefs. The three share the challenges they faced, obstacles they overcame and their overall experiences.\n"In the film, viewers can experience these stories as told by the storytellers instead of a narrator," Nzegwu said.\nNzegwu worked on the documentary as a new media project for her master's thesis. \n"The purpose of the project was to look at how the general media is changing traditional storytelling, Nzegwu said. "It makes use of text, photographs, imagery and sound to keep a balance of medias. I really wanted to give people a chance to tell their own stories."\nNzegwu recorded Kuang's research of "Liu Ye Liu," a popular Chinese folk song during the summer of 2002. \n"We're best friends here," Kuang said. "So it worked out nicely." \nKuang then filmed a music video detailing the narrative of the song, which will be shown after Nzegwu's documentary tonight. \nNzegwu and Kuang had the opportunity to travel to China together to work on the documentary, which consists of two parts. \n"It was a remarkable experience," Kuang said. "(In the documentary), I show the process of recollecting the story for the folk song, and it interviews me as I'm researching and then cuts to the music video."\nKuang said Friday's program provides an opportunity for learning and a nice break from studying. "Ethnographic film is usually only for scholarly audiences, but music video has a much wider appeal," she said. \nKuang said she hopes that students interested in other cultures and the impact of technology on spreading awareness about diversity will come to the program.\n"People interested in learning more about other cultures and the fusion and intertextuality of culture would appreciate the showing," Kuang said. "As well as people who just need a break from studying for finals."\nNzegwu stresses the importance of preserving culture and tradition in her project. \n"It's important to have storytelling in this age because it's a way to build communities and reinforce the values of the community," Nzegwu said. "Digital media is allowing anybody to tell their own stories because we no longer have to tell stories in a collective experience."\nNzegwu said new media provides a slew of outlets to disseminate stories.\n"With digital media, anyone can tell stories anywhere with the use of a computer," she said. "It is important to preserve the (tradition of storytelling) because there is so much you can learn."\nArts Editor Maura Halpern contributed to this story.\n-- Contact staff writer Stacey Laskin at slaskin@indiana.edu.