Tag Archives: Portraits4PositiveChange

‘I Cannot Bury My Father’ documentary release 13.01.2020

January 14, 2020documentary, Jason Florio, multimedia, photojournalismhuman rights, Portraits4PositiveChange, The Gambia, West Africajason florio Leave a comment

‘I Cannot Bury My Father‘ A Film by Nana-Jo Ndow/ANEKED

#ICannotBuryMyFather

A short documentary about the 56 West African migrants forcibly disappeared and killed in 2005 in Gambia by security forces on orders of ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh. The film follows Isaac Mensah, one of the victim’s sons, who shares the family’s account of how his father’s death/disappearance continues to take an emotional toll on the family; and his journey to more answers.

‘I Cannot Bury My Father‘ reflects on the need for a wider public conversation around migration, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the issue of ensuring accountability.

Released, Monday 13th January, 2020, you can watch the full documentary online now.

#ICannotBuryMyFather

Director & Producer – Nana-Jo Ndow/ANEKED

Presenter – Isaac Mensah

Director of Photography – Jason Florio

Assistant Producer & Second Camera – Festus Jackson Davis

Editor – Gabriel Baron

Animator – Alexis Stern

Translator & Advisor – Zusong Tidana

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See more of Jason Florio’s documentary work on his website

January 2020 – Currently in The Gambia, West Africa

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#NeverAgainGambia – In Remembrance of Deyda Hydara, June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004

December 16, 2019documentary, Jason Florio, photographyAmnesty International, Gambia Has Decided, human rights, New Gambia, portraits, Portraits4PositiveChange, West Africajason florio Leave a comment

A Gambian man wears a t-shirt of murdered newspaper editor and journalist, Deyda Hydara (June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004). Hydara was assassinated by Gambian security forces on the orders of President Yahya Jammeh. Image ©Jason Florio — A young Gambian journalist wears a t-shirt of murdered newspaper editor and journalist, Deyda Hydara (June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004). Image ©Jason Florio

#NeverAgainGambia – Remembering Deyda Hydara, June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004, The Gambia. Hydara was gunned down by assailants, whilst in his car, as he was returning from work, in 2004. He was a journalist and co-founder of The Point newspaper and an advocate of press freedom. Hydara was also a fierce critic of the government of President Yahya Jammeh, who was openly hostile to Gambian journalists and the media.

#NeverAgainGambia

Baba Hydara with the tattoo of his murdered father, Gambian newspaper editor, and journalist, Deyda Hydara, on his arm © Jason Florio

July 22nd, 2019 – At Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) on July 22, army officer Lieutenant Malick Jatta named former President Yahya Jammeh as the mastermind behind the murder of prominent editor Deyda Hydara on December 16 , 2004. He said Jammeh had given the direct order to assassinate Hydara, an outspoken critic who was the managing editor and co-owner of independent newspaper The Point. The operation by Jammeh’s infamous hit squad, known as the Junglers, was dubbed “Magic Pen,” Jatta told the commission. CPJ – By Angela Quintal/CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, The Committee to Protect Journalists

‘Gambia – victims, and resisters’
#Portraits4PositiveChange

Billboard Gambia victims and resisters,TRRC ©Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio #Portraits4PositiveChange — Billboard ‘*Gambia-victims, and resisters’*, The Gambia. Portraits ©Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio #Portraits4PositiveChange

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The Gambia – All eyes are on the TRRC Live TV

December 9, 2019Jason Florio, photography, photojournalismGambia Has Decided, New Gambia, portraits, Portraits4PositiveChange, West Africa. Gambia, Yahya Jammehjason florio Leave a comment

Gambians watch the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission, live on TV © Jason Florio, The Gambia, West Africa — Gambians watch the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission, live on TV. Image © Jason Florio, The Gambia, West Africa

The Gambia – everywhere you go, all eyes are on the TRRC live TV

The TRRC is an independent Gambian institution mandated to conduct research and investigations into human rights violations committed under the presidency of Yahya Jammeh. The Commission further aims to prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered under the past regime by making recommendations to government and citizens aimed at ensuring the crimes of the past never recur in The Gambia. TRRC

#NeverAgainGambia

The TRRC is currently hearing the testimonies of the victims of the 2009 witch hunts when over 1000 elders were abducted on the orders of then-President Yahya Jammeh. Paramilitary troops accompanied by ‘magicians’ from Guinea went from village to village as part of a nationwide hunt for witches. The alleged witches were made to drink ‘Kubehjaro’, a hallucinogenic substance, and then forced to confess to witchcraft. A number of people died during the ordeal, due to drinking the liquid and as a result of severe beatings, and several deaths followed due to health complications, such as kidney failure.

Portrait of Sankung Balajo - victims of President Yahya Jammeh's witch hunts, The Gambia, in 2009 © Jason Florio — Sankung Balajo, Essau – victims of President Yahya Jammeh’s witch hunts, The Gambia. Image© Jason Florio

“I was kept for five days. When they forced me to take the medicine (‘Kubehjaro’ a hallucinogenic substance), I could no longer stand up… I fell down on the ground… ” excerpt from Sankung Balajo’s interview with Jason Florio/Helen Jones-Florio: ‘Gambia – victims, and resisters‘

‘Gambia – victims, and resisters’
#Portraits4PositiveChange

Photographer and filmmaker, Jason Florio, films victims of 2009 witch hunts, which took place in The Gambia, West Africa — Photographer and filmmaker, Jason Florio, films a victim of 2009 witch hunts (in the village of Essau) which took place in The Gambia, West Africa. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio #Portraits4PositiveChange

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Podcast Jason Florio – ‘9/11 To African Stories’

November 28, 2019documentary, Jason Florio, multimedia, photojournalismblack and white photography, Gambia, Gambia Has Decided, MOAS, New Gambia, New York City, portraits, Portraits4PositiveChange, West Africajason florio Leave a comment

I met with Jason Florio in The Gambia in 2018 along with his creative, business and actual life partner, Helen Jones-Florio. It was a serendipitous meeting, well for me at least, as I was in West Africa involved in the recording of a political short documentary. We sat in a restaurant one evening by a beach close to the couples’ Gambian home discussing how Jason came to make his transition from the non-stop vibe of commercial photographic work in New York, to what at face value seemed an altogether slower pace of life on a continent four thousand miles from Manhattan.Neale James/Breath Pictures

Podcast Jason Florio – listen here

Podcast Jason Florio – images by the award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker – interview with Neale James/Breathe Pictures

Talking about his work in The Gambia, West Africa, as a photojournalist “The newspapers, and journalists, had a very hard time, under 22 years of Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorial rule. Journalists were gunned down…Deyda Hydara, was a very famous journalist who owned The Point newspaper, he was assassinated back in 2004. Chief Ebrima Manneh, another journalist that was ‘disappeared’… never to reappear. Journalists were tortured…” Jason Florio

Podcast Jason Florio – listen here

Youtube: 9-11 the day The Towers fell, Jason Florio’s story

Podcast Jason Florio To quote from his website biography, Jason Florio’s focus has been on ‘under-reported stories about people living on the margins of society and human rights.’ His work has been recognised with a number of awards, including The Magnum Photography Award 2017 for his raw pictorial stories on migration. It’s little wonder that photographs of his reside in a number of public and private collections and his solo and joint exhibitions worldwide have been greeted by awe, enthusiasm, and celebration. Neale James/Breathe Pictures