The Awra Amba Experience - The New Utopia.

Write This Down Productions the team behind ‘Rethink a beautiful world - The Awra Amba Experience’, have raised £9,350.00 through their Indiegogo funding campaign at the end of May 2014.

The Awra Amba Experience is an interactive documentary designed to be showcased on tablets and computers. Its a story about a remarkable community in rural Ethiopia. set up by a small collective of farmers from a rural part of Ethiopia back in the 70s through the guidance of a young man called Zumra Nuru. They group formed a progressive new village, called Awra Amba. 40 years on, Awra Amba has transformed from a handful of people who never went to school, to a self-sustaining, gender-equal democracy, where almost all of the youngsters go to university.

Write This Down Productions are a team of creative filmmakers, designers, web developers, musicians and translators who are working with the Awra Amba community to create a compelling, meaningful and highly innovative documentary experience for multiple platforms, with a view to share Awra Amba’s tales and expertise in living rooms, classrooms and village squares around the world. 

Using new techniques of interactive storytelling, they have combined documentary film with 360 panoramic photography, illustration, animation, graphics, text and sound to create an immersive experience of Awra Amba. With the aim of inspiring, educating and generating discussion about some of the most important issues in our world today.

Through the funds raised the team will go on to make this documentary available as an app that can be downloaded onto tablets, computers and smart phones, giving individuals the opportunity to: 

1. Explore the village through a 360 degree immersive landscape 
2. Learn about Awra Amba's way of life and philosophies in 10 interactive real life environments, containing over 90 minutes of compelling short films, beautiful photo stories, interesting infographics and interviews with Awra Amba’s residents 
3. Connect with the community, hear their views on issues they have chosen as the most important to their way of life and ask questions via our online global discussion platform
4. Discuss the issues raised in the films with others around the world, share knowledge, inspiration and ideas on equality, traditions, sustainability and many other universal topics.

 Could this be the new social model for a new utopia?