A Journey into Digital Storytelling: Akha Students Tell Their Stories

Over two weekends, students at the Akha Oral Tradition School in Ban Saen Suk, Chiang Rai, Thailand, took part in a dynamic 4-day Digital Storytelling Boot Camp, led by BBC reporter and producer Clare Lyons. Through this engaging course, students learned the fundamentals of photography, filming, creating a compelling story arc, editing, and sharing their work on social media — all using mobile phones. The focus? Their very own Akha culture.

From First Phone to First Film

What an extraordinary journey these students have taken! Just weeks ago, many received their very first smartphones. Now, they’re creating their very first films.

Our deepest thanks go to Clare, and to the wonderful San, Yatu, and Arlo, for generously sharing your skills and guidance. Immense gratitude to our donors, whose support has made all this possible. And a special thank you to Cultural Crossroads Asia for turning the vision of this Digital Storytelling Course into a reality.

Year 2, Semester 1, Weekend 18: Digital Storytelling – Day 3

Lights, Camera, Action! Akha Students Film Their First Video! Saturday, 22 February 2025

After two action-packed days of learning filming techniques with Clare, students set off on their own filmmaking adventures. Each of the seven “Animal Teams” — Bird, Butterfly, Cat, Chicken, Lion, Rabbit, and Whale — received:

A topic rooted in Akha tradition
A facilitator to support logistics
A specialist/interviewee (a wisdom-keeper)
A location
A list of materials needed to showcase the cultural activity

Prepping for Production

During the week, students completed important prep work — their very first Shot List. This included:

A list of film shots and angles to visually tell their story
Interview questions for their wisdom-keeper

A heartfelt Gulang guma deh to Arlo for helping the students craft their Shot Lists during the week!

On the Set

By Saturday morning, each team headed to their designated locations with Shot Lists in hand. They surveyed their sites, refined their filming plans, and coordinated with their interviewees.

From 1:00 to 4:30 PM, teams were tasked with filming:

At least 20 minutes of interviews
At least 20 minutes of B-roll footage showing the cultural practice in action — from cooking traditional meals, crafting brooms, or making herbal medicine, to practicing Akha martial arts, designing children’s toys, embroidering garments, or performing the Red Egg-Fighting festival game.

These hands-on experiences helped students develop not only filmmaking skills, but also collaboration, problem-solving, and leadership — invaluable life lessons in storytelling and teamwork.

What’s Next?

Each team will now begin editing their footage using the CapCut mobile app, getting ready for the final weekend of the course. The goal: turn raw clips into a polished short film.

With Gratitude

Thank you to everyone who made this possible:

Clare, San, and Yatu – for your inspiring teaching
Arlo – for your dedicated translation and weekday support
Cultural Crossroads Asia – for purchasing 7 brand new smartphones!
And to our amazing donors for providing smartphones and iPhones:
- Eden Blackwell
- Suchart Robmeechai
- Mark Palmer
- Jenny Bramell-Selander
- John Schorr
- Terry Miller
- Nora Schneider
- Larissa Viravaidya Stillman