The P.us.sy
5 episodes | 5 interviews | 5 women
1 documentary highlighting the lives of women in the patriarchal society of Bangladesh
April 2019 - July 2019
The Issue
It was in sixth grade when I realized that communication is a big factor of change. After a few years, I realized this was the very reason why gender equality is not being maintained in Bangladesh; not because women were not speaking up… but precisely because no one was willing to listen.
Could I do something?
By the time I started grasping the severity of the issue, I was in my first year in university. I already had a youtube channel and had already worked on a documentary about mental health and learned a few things on how to address sensitive topics in a developing country like Bangladesh.
So, as expected, I decided to work on another project that addresses the women in Bangladesh.
The Stories
This project would be impossible without the story-tellers: Waziha, Tasneem, Nazneen, Nashiba & Mehnaz.
They were the main authors of the content, the story, and the message while I stitched them together.
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Watch each individual answer the question "how does it feel to be a woman?"
Change began at Home
When one of the interviewees couldn’t decide on a location for filming, I welcomed her into my home. This resulted in a number of speculations made by the people around me. Questions about a young guy filming girls in his house were asked around and my mother was the one most affected.
In a heated conversation one day, my mother and I came to a conclusion about how both our efforts need to come to a middle ground. One needs to take things slow while the other needs to accept changes.
Even my mother, being a woman, wasn’t ready for an action taken to change the society… and slowly I realized that change takes time.
Society vs Social Media
As much as it was easy to release good content into the internet it was equally hard to change the society as a hold. So, we took a step back and instead of aiming at the whole of society… we started aiming at individual families.
A passion project to analyze Bangladeshi society.
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How filmmaking requires UX design and research
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The UX of Filmmaking
What to make?
As the videographer and creator, I wanted a product that was accessible, free, fast and delivered the message.
Who to work with?
The message that was needed wasn’t to inspire or scare people, it was needed as a reality check. I decided to interview five individuals, who were close enough to be approached and distant enough to not be biased. The group was representing the females from the age group of late teens to the early twenties in Bangladesh.
Who is this for?
The target audience was the youth of the nation; the older generation is less prone to changing their mindset but the growing individuals of the youth were the ones whose minds we could change.
What is the current ecosystem?
The current situation of Bangladesh society included the youth constantly devoured into technology, their parents who are slowly experiencing the growing addiction of technology, the grandparents who complain about the lack of interaction between humans, the people in the poverty range have access to the internet on their phones.
The more extreme cases of the ecosystem involves:
numerous women experiencing different forms of assaults
No justice is being brought to them by the government
Rape and murder cases have become the new norm of Bangladesh.
How to get the product to the audience(users)?
From previous experience of the first documentary, we learned that Youtube is less accessed by the locals when something ‘serious’ is being shared. For ‘seriousness’ to be taken seriously, Facebook is the most used and relied upon app. So the plan changed: a trailer will be released before each episode on Facebook. The complete episodes will be uploaded on Facebook as well as Youtube and Instagram too. Instagram and Facebook went hand in hand that meant the reach out to the audience would significantly increase.
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How to be safe, if the society retaliates?
Producing this product would mean, going against the very critical and stereotypical core of the country. This meant that the interviews and I as a group needed to be assured that we have a backup plan if something went wrong.
Societal Guidelines
A product that wasn't instantly rejected by the society needed to be subtle and relatable. The content of the videos needed to be accessible and relevant to the times.
We also had to maintain the originality of the content and be true to our core value.
solving problems through stories
The problem was that women around the country weren’t being heard, respected and given the value they deserved.
To solve this issue, a documentary was created to tell the stories of five individuals and how the country shaped them to become the women they are now.
And?
Conclusion & Take-aways
Although the basic work process of this project included filming the interviews and editing them, this course improved my ability to observe and plan.
I realized how going against the structure of society is quite impossible... if done alone. Moreover, I learned how to work in a group and lead the team into and out of uncharted territories.
Finally! My communication, editing, and research skills improved too.