Filming has begun for an educational video for victims of crime, called Witness, that will demonstrate the process in which people affected by violence should take when going through the justice system following an incident.
Written and directed by producer Lorna Bennet, Witness aims to demystify the process of giving evidence in court by showing examples of scenarios of what a victim could expect. Bennet is working closely with Alberni Community and Women’s Services Society (ACAWS) to produce the film.
Read: Alberni Community and Women’s Services Society seeks film funding
Production costs for the video hover around $22,000.
After more than a year of raising money to make the film, ACAWS was successful in receiving grants from the Ministry of Justice, the City of Port Alberni and the Alberni Valley Lions Club.
Filming over just four days, most of the video’s cast and crew are local people and all the scenes are filmed in the Alberni Valley.
The video will be about 11 minutes long and will be told in a voice-over narrative style so that it could easily be adapted into different languages.
Post production should take two to three months, and once complete the film will be available free on YouTube and other social media.
