Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about storytelling and about how narrative shapes our lives. I’m really interested in learning more about digital storytelling – which seems to me to have very different goals than traditional documentary in that it is all about “ordinary” people telling their own stories, and hopefully empowering themselves in the process. The Center for Digital Storytelling are doing some interesting work in this area, training people to use “the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives.” Have a look at the project they did with Men As Partners (MAP) in South Africa, dealing with the twin problems of HIV/AIDS and violence against women.

I’ve always loved the way children tell stories, in that rambling, boundary-less fashion, so I was rather bowled over by Capucha’s stories, even though she’s so cute it’s almost too much. Imagine the story below as a film. Exhausting!

Once upon a time… from Capucha on Vimeo.