Beyond the Lens: My journey facilitating the Pungro Participatory Video Hub in Northeast East India by Wekoweu Tsuha (Akole)

What happens when a community stops being the subject of a film and starts being the creator? Since 2015, North East Network (NEN) and InsightShare have been exploring this question across the hills of Nagaland. For a long time, I understood the concept of participatory video (PV) through the work of my former colleagues at NEN, but it wasn’t until February 2025 that I truly felt its pulse. My journey reached a turning point during the PV training at Chizami, facilitated by Nick and Irie Lunch. Stepping into the process as a participant allowed me to experience the methodology from the ground up. However, it was my recent, intensive engagement with the Pungro PV Hub – this time as a facilitator myself – that deepened my connection to PV work.

Today, what began as a series of training sessions has evolved into a movement. For us, PV is not just a technical skill; it is a strategy for sustainable development, a tool for community mobilization, and a vital bridge between generations.

From Learner to Facilitator-Mentor

Akole interviews Sunayana, NEN’s Communications Officer.

Moving from learner to facilitator-mentor was a transformative leap. I found myself co-facilitating the Pungro PV Hub alongside Tshenyilou Chirhah (Lele), who was one of the first PV trainees with NEN back in 2015. With her decade of technical expertise and my two decades of experience as a community organizer, we formed an incredible team. The InsightShare resources became our backbone, providing the clear structure we needed to lead with confidence. InsightShare’s new toolbox in particular is a brilliant offline collection of video tutorials, PV games and facilitator tips for community facilitators on the go. The toolbox is flexible and adaptable to local contexts. Delivering sessions in local languages while maintaining consistency can be a challenge, but this helped me bridge that gap.

Each One Teach One – Lele demonstrates the camera functions before facilitating the Disappearing Game.

I’ve realized that PV facilitation requires more than technical skill; it requires a high degree of emotional and social intelligence. It is the ability to see the inherent agency that communities possess and to help them harness that potential. This was never more evident than during our work in Pungro.

Building Bridges Across Communities

The Pungro workshop was a beautiful example of collaboration in action. Hosted by the local organization RRtIP (Resource Rights for the Indigenous Peoples) based on the border between India and Myanmar, and supported by InsightShare and NEN, we successfully launched a two-phase journey: a five-day immersive workshop in August 2025, followed by a dedicated post-production workshop in October 2025. This was specifically designed for ten participants from the Makury-speaking Yimkhiung community.

This group of participants from the Facilitator Training in February trained 25 Indigenous youth and women filmmakers across Assam and Nagaland, as the network continues to grow.

Two of our participants, Mercy Tsughili and Shihsumew, had previously attended the February 2025 training at Chizami. Their participation was critical; because they had already experienced the PV process from the ground up, they were able to step into leadership roles – managing logistics and driving community mobilization for the Pungro sessions.

On a personal level, this project felt deeply significant. Both Lele and I come from the Chakhesang community, where PV has been an utilized tool for many years. Expanding this work to the Makury-speaking Yimkhiung Nagas felt like a powerful step forward for our region. In a time when Naga society can often feel fractured by tribal identities, these connections through PV act as a bridge of solidarity. By communicating across linguistic and geographic divides, we are using the lens of a camera to strengthen the Naga bond when it is needed most.

Voices from the PV Trainees

Watching the participants transition from ‘learners’ to ‘community storytellers-facilitators’ was a proud moment. Between August and October, they moved from making short films about local seeds and ancestral streams to independently filming rich footage on textiles, tattoo traditions, and traditional ecological knowledge on farming.

“I overcame my self-doubt regarding camera handling. I’ve moved past my shyness and can see that I can do it.” – Sangtshuthong

“I learned so much from the elders while filming about tattoo traditions. I gained confidence and had so much fun.” – Tsuyibah

“The Pungro workshop served as an excellent refresher for me. I gained technical confidence and a lot of clarity on the concept and tools. Now, I am highly motivated to take PV forward.” – Shihshumew

“PV is not just film, but a strategy for sustainable development and a tool for revolution.” – Yuvtsuleng

From the Periphery to the Core: NEN’s Commitment to Community Voice

In my discussions with Pamchingla, State Coordinator of NEN Nagaland, she noted that participatory video has moved from the periphery to the core of our fieldwork.

“PV has amplified the voices of grassroots women in biodiversity conservation…”

The Roadmap Ahead

Cross-Border Peacebuilding: Screening films for Makury-Naga communities across borders.
Climate Resilience: Mobilizing youth and women’s collectives to document local climate actions.
Bridging the Gap: Exploring youth aspirations and intergenerational dialogue.
Sustainability: Continued mentoring and access to equipment.

The journey from PV training sessions to building a community-wide movement is long, but the foundation is established.

Our community filmmakers discuss their edits before organising a screening.

Learn more about the Nagaland’s Indigenous Living Archive here.

About the author

Wekoweu Tsuha (Akole) is an Indigenous woman from the Chakhesang Naga Tribe in Nagaland, India. She is a Community Organiser, Facilitator, Trainer, and an advocate for Women’s Rights, with two decades of dedicated work promoting gender equality, social justice, and environmental sustainability in the Indigenous Naga Context. Akole is actively involved in community-based development initiatives, strengthening grassroots women’s leadership, and amplifying the voices of marginalised communities on local, regional, and global platforms.

Her vast experience stems primarily from her role at the North East Network (NEN), a leading women’s rights organisation in Northeast India, where she has worked for 20 years. Akole has led numerous impactful women-centric programmes and projects, demonstrating expertise in fundraising, Inter-sectional programme coordination, networking, and expanding organisational outreach, especially within Nagaland. She has played an instrumental role in establishing the women’s union <i>Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Nagaland, building a women-led weavers’ organisation Li Cheh Kro and a market outlet -SEWA Dukaan in Nagaland. With fieldwork experience spanning urban and rural settings, she adopts culturally sensitive strategies to empower Indigenous communities.