Sometimes, to talk about painful topics, it is necessary to use words or devices that act as a paradox, because talking about suicide is difficult, and if it is also linked to sexual violence, even more difficult. The latest studies indicate that 40% of … Women who commit suicide are victims of gender-based violence, a reality that some call sexual suicide. According to data from the Women’s Health Observatory (Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs) and the Health and Gender Report, 80% of victims of sexual violence surveyed believe that suicide is the only option to get out of their situation, and of these, 65% have made one or more suicide attempts. That is why Cosmo seeks to raise society’s awareness of the seriousness of these facts through her new short film, “Himself”, which is shown for the first time today through characters made of plasticine on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
This twelve-minute short film, directed by Virginia Correia and executive produced by Thomas Cundy, tells the story of Mar and Alex, two young people whose lives bring them together again after a few years. What seems like a chance meeting quickly turns into a settling of scores: Marr has not forgotten that Alex posted an intimate photo of him as if it were a simple game. For him it was a youthful joke, for her it was the attack that marked her life with scars that she still carries with her.
“We specifically chose this material because it was useful for talking about issues such as sexual violence and suicide to avoid falling ill. Sometimes it is necessary to resort to such matters in order to talk about serious topics. “It is very important to achieve this connection and empathy with the viewer,” commented the directors of Algarabía Animación, the Galician animation studio behind the project, during its screening at the Almería International Film Festival. Corea and Conde were responsible for designing and building the two puppets to transform them into the heroes of the short film.
The text came from the hands of Ines Pintor and Pablo Santidrian. “We are used to working with comedies, so usually you enjoy the work when you see the characters having a good time, but in this case it was different and we had a bad time,” Correa admitted. The short film tells the story of the suffering that the protagonist, Mar, experienced after publishing that intimate photo, to the point that he was thinking of leaving this world. «There are very complex moments that have to be told because we try to have a certain sensitivity in light of the harshness of what we see.“, confirmed Correa.
Throughout the development of the project, they both had the intention of respecting the character and the pain he was going through. They explained: “In the scenes related to the suicide and the letters he receives, we wanted to be direct. We didn’t want to fake anything, but we didn’t want to be happy about it either.” They both wanted something “clean”, so that when the viewer saw it “they would believe the message and it would fit”.
Educational project
Despite the curiosity that this brevity article may generate, they both felt that other aspects should be focused on. Conde explained: “We want the viewer to forget that he is seeing plastic characters, and not to think too much about the technology we use, but rather to think about what these characters are saying.” The short film is created through stop-motion animation. The process was arduous and intense. “On average, we did about seven seconds of animation every day. “We filmed with both characters for three months,” he added. They realized that this type of animation represented an opportunity to prove that animation did not only have to raise children’s topics. “It allows us to show things that we might not have been able to show with real actors,” they explained.
Cosmo’s goal with these shorts is to raise awareness about social issues that matter to everyone. Alberto Lafuente admitted during the presentation, saying: “We want to open minds and educate, and it is also a project that we do not benefit from.” This is the tenth social awareness short film released by Cosmo. «Violence against women has many faces, many of which are invisible and stigmatized. Through these short films we want to explore fears and what is happening in society“, I confess.
Moreover, the idea of this project is that it does not remain just a premiere, but rather that it transcends barriers. “We want to take it to the institutes to put these issues on the table and be able to talk to teens about issues they might be affected by,” the producers admitted. The film “The Same” will be shown in educational centers as part of the “365 Days of Respect and Equality” project of the Government of Galicia. The aim of this proposal is “Opening a space for discussion among young people To address related issues such as sharing and posting private images without consent, self-harm or “sexting”. This activity will be accompanied by a teaching module aimed at teachers which will serve as a guide for analyzing the work and encouraging conversation among students.