Heading out into the dark waters of the Indian Ocean with looming bad weather above, a group of young documentary makers left the safety of dry land and drifted off into the night.

Accompanying local Galle fisherman out to sea, these budding film-makers hoped to capture on film the dangerous yet unseen work Sri Lankan fisherman do every day.

Filming, editing and creating stories are all components of the Chandr-asevana Film Course, run by German filmmaker Sebas-tian Pleuse, at the Chand-rasevana Creative Centre, Dodanduwa.

Over a five week period, a small group of students from across the country have been learning the art of film-making. Passionate about film and the power this medium has for creating change, Pleuse began running this course in association with Hikkaduwa Area Relief Fund (HARF) to teach young Sri Lankans, free of charge, how to create their own stories through film. With his assistant Simon Ostermann, the pair has been teaching whilst simultaneously making a documentary of the process to help raise funds for future courses.

"Film is an important medium" states Pleuse, "it is a strong weapon that nowadays is cheap and easy to produce ... Most people have a mobile phone that can record videos, and most people have access to simple PCs that all have Windows Movie Maker".

By teaching his students to use simple editing tools, film-making becomes less about expensive equipment and more about the voices and stories of the film-makers. Rapid chan-ges in technology have opened up spaces for the voices and stories of the young or underprivileged to be heard. Just spending a few minutes on websites like You Tube and a plethora of video footage can be found documenting political protests, short films and many other far more outlandish creations.

"You don’t need elaborate software to tell a good story", says Pleuse, and his students have plenty of interesting and contemporary story ideas up their sleeves.

When asked what stories they would like to tell, a similar theme emerged. The students wanted to tell stories about Sri Lanka, about the culture, its intricate links with Buddhism and religious expression and also the need to start a public discourse about sexual freedom and sexual expression in the country.

"The conflict and war take up too much of the press’s attention" states Priyantha from Colombo, "there are so many other important issues ... documentaries can be used as a forum for education and discussion".

Sri Lanka has provided the backdrop for many world famous films such as Deepa Mehta’s 2005 film Water, which won an Oscar nomination for Best Fore-ign Film and the world famous The Bridge on the River Kwai, filmed in Kitulgala in 1957. Atheeq Mahuroof, 19, from Galle sees great potential in his local area for film settings, noting that he thinks the Galle Fort would make a great location for a love story!

Shyam Careem, 32, who has been shooting the documentary about the fisherman of Galle, wants to make people aware of the important and dangerous work fisherman do every day and confront the lack of respect they are given by the rest of the community. By tempting fate and heading out to sea with the fisherman becoming a film-maker might be a dangerous career move for the former cricket player. But Careem said it was worth it.

"They work so hard and what they do is so dangerous ... they deserve respect just like any other profession."

Pleuse is excited about how the first course is going, "Students are already talking about opening their own production house together, imagine that! People from Colombo, Galle and Dodanduwa, very different worlds and backgrounds and they want to continue making movies together... Why should most of the movies come from Bollywood?"