Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival l Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hong Sar speaks on the Burma Photographers Panel.

What an inspiring conference!

One week of documentary arts was not enough for us.  That's right, Shoot Cameras Not Guns combined teaching and learning for a full week in Chiang Mai.  The second annual Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival (CDAF) was a jam-packed week of documentaries, gallery shows, talks, workshops, discussions and networking.  

Many of the finest filmmakers, photojournalists and human rights activists working in Southeast Asia were in attendance. 

Ian gets an explanation of one of Ryan's prints, won in the silent auction!

The week started with a panel on photojournalism in Burma. One of Diana's first students, Hong Sar, was on the panel, a very proud moment for them both! We were treated to amazing documentaries every day, and top-notch workshops as well.  Ian was particularly excited by the DSLR film making workshop taught by the conference organizer, Ryan Libre.  

Photographer and DAA founder Ryan Libre thanks guests for attending CDAF.

We were able to teach a photo workshop in conjunction with the festival too, and introduced many new colleagues to our organization and programs. 

Lucie Awards founder Hossein Farmani auctions of a 1000 Baht bill to warm up bidders for the silent auction!

We were also lucky enough to get to know most of the presenters and attendees over the course of the week. It looks like we will be able to use what we learned at the conference right away, and hope to be collaborating with some of our new colleagues very soon.  Special thanks to Documentary Arts Asia (DAA) for putting on the festival!