Community Filmmaking Leads to Empowerment | Zan Azlee | TEDxUTM

Zan Azlee begins by establishing his background as an adventurous journalist, documentary filmmaker, and conflict reporter who covered major events during the Arab Spring across multiple countries including Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. However, after years of parachute journalism—where he would briefly enter conflict zones, report stories, and return to his comfortable life in Kuala Lumpur—he recognized a fundamental emptiness in this approach. The birth of his children prompted philosophical reflection about contributing meaningfully to the world rather than perpetuating cycles of crisis documentation.

This led to his Jita Kalawad project, which brought him to Pulau Omadal, a small island off Sabah's coast inhabited by the Bajau people. The Bajau are an indigenous nomadic maritime group spread across Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In Malaysia specifically, most Bajau are undocumented, lacking citizenship, identification cards, or birth certificates, which prevents them from accessing education, healthcare, and formal employment. Recognizing this marginalization, Azlee partnered with an NGO called E-School to organize community filmmaking workshops.

The project selected 15 Bajau youth participants and trained them in video camera operation and visual storytelling techniques. However, Azlee emphasizes that this was about more than distributing equipment—it was fundamentally about building relationships, establishing trust, and transferring power. Rather than imposing external narratives, he enabled participants to identify and tell their own stories about identity, education, and their lived challenges. Three outstanding participants—Bill, Quinn, and Shima (later referred to as DD)—were promoted to junior film director roles, collaborating with Azlee's professional crew while maintaining complete creative control over the film's narrative content.

The results exceeded initial expectations. The feature film was distributed in Malaysian cinemas, providing these previously invisible community members with a national platform. All 15 participants subsequently began producing professional-quality videos and social media content funded by sponsorships. Most remarkably, Bill became a social media influencer with over 40,000 followers, securing sponsored deals and product placements while using his platform to document his community's stories and generate sustainable income for his family. Azlee concludes that this model—providing tools, opportunity, and genuine empowerment—can extend beyond the Bajau to other marginalized communities and individuals seeking to share their narratives.