In our first assignment we had to submit individual proposals for our short video. It could be on any subject even if we as a group had already chosen one already. My proposal for the video was about The Gurkhas. My project proposal was to make a five minute awareness video about the injustice done to the Gurkha soldiers of Nepal by the British Government. The Gurkhas are best known for their history of bravery and strength in the British Army's “Brigade of Gurkhas” and the Indian Army's Gurkha regiments.
The Gurkhas were designated by British officials as a "martial race". "Martial race" was a designation created by officials of British India to describe "races" (peoples) that were thought to be naturally warlike and aggressive in battle, and to possess qualities like courage, loyalty, self sufficiency, physical strength, resilience, organization, the ability to work hard for long periods of time, fighting tenacity and military strategy. The British recruited the Gurkhas for service in the British army since the 1800’s.
I am from a Gurkha ancestry and there are thousands of people like me whose father or great grandfather did not receive the same treatment as the British or Commonwealth servicemen. They were instead forgotten by the British government after they were retired. These brave and loyal men served the in the British Army for more than 200 years. They fought along side their comrades in every single war or conflict the British Army was involved in since The Great World War I and World War II till the Gulf War. Moreover, they are still fighting for the British people in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Furthermore, my short video is going to be an archival documentary. I am going to use mainly archival stills and tell the entire story of The Gurkhas with the help of these old photographs and narration. The archival documentary is going to contain very basic information as it is for audience who have never heard about The Gurkhas. The target market is Australians who have no idea what The Gurkhas are or where they come from. So the documentary is going to be very simple and to the succinct.
