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The Curse of Palm Oil

Description

For some, forests are just expansive areas of unused land but for others, it’s home. Orang Asli, indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, depend on the forest as their source of food, medicine and other materials. However, some of the fastest deforestation rates in the world threaten their livelihood. The Curse of Palm Oil, an immersive film by Contrast VR and 101 East, explores the connection Orang Asli have to the forests that are cut down to make way for oil palm trees, which produce the most used vegetable oil in the world. In this immersive film, the sounds of the rainforest clash with the sounds of the machines involved in deforestation, representing the real-life conflict that unfolds daily between the logging companies and indigenous people of Malaysia.

What Works Well

This video offers an in-depth look at how the palm oil industry is impacting the people and forests of Malaysia and does so through innovative storytelling that leverages 360º citizen journalism. 

Discipline

  • Agriculture & Natural Resources
  • Communications

Keywords

activism, citizen, deforestation, informal learning, journalism, jungle, malaysia, orang asli, palm oil, rainforest, southeast asia, storytelling

Source

AJ Contrast

Level of Guidance

What does this mean?

The Level of Guidance indicates how much the creator has imbued the video with a sense of at what the viewer should be looking.

For instance, a Level 1 video would mean that the camera has been left in place while life happens around it, allowing you, as the viewer, to simply observe. A Level 2 video might incorporate subtle visual, textual or audible hints or simple transitions. A Level 3 video would rely on a handful of hints and transition. A Level 4 video would employ multiple hints and dialogue. And a Level 5 video would rely on all of the above as well as a narrative arc that pushes the viewer forward.

Another way of looking at this would be how much production went into the video if you are considering making one of your own like it.

Location

Watch in Class

Palm Oil QR Code

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