Rapid developments have made the ever-expanding borders of visual technology more fluid. Moving images are more accessible now, easier to record and edit with less equipment. This has also opened avenues for using video to new ends, freeing the filmmaking process and the directions of the craft. The footage was cut using a home computer loaded with a video graphics board and Adobe Premiere, and will finally be kined to film with a resulting look unlike either film or video. Many of the people in these marginal communities are refugees having no national identity.
Identity is defined in various ways in different places.
In East Africa a common way to verify personal identity is through the fingerprint. In marginal communities where people have few or no resources, it is the ultimate low-tech symbol of the individual. At the other end of the scale is the barcode, as ubiquitous as fingerprints and used to identify almost every product you can buy, from CDs to groceries. It is the hallmark of technology, the definition of identity in a hi-tech world. Technology and personal circumstance allowed the director a unique point of view in this film.