Unwanted Images: Gender-Based Violence in the New South Africa
Best documentary in student category, Montreal World’s Film Festival (2001)
"Rape, sexual harassment, abuse, homophobia -- the list of names is endless. But no matter what name we give to gendered violence, the children of South Africa are witnesses to its every incarnation of horror. Their drawings tell the story..."
From the moment the first image crosses the screen, the experiences that shape the present daily lives of South African children become embedded in the viewer's mind.
Combining poignant pictures drawn by young learners in South Africa with an array of statistics, Unwanted Images: Gender-Based Violence in the New South Africa illustrates how gendered violence, in its various forms, affects young children, who are its witnesses, its victims -- and, at times, even its perpetrators.
By encouraging educational policies to protect pupils from gendered violence, the film ultimately counterbalances its brutal imagery and harsh facts with the desire to promote safety and security in the new South Africa.
2000/Video/Colour/8 mins 48 secs.
Script adapted from: Opening Our Eyes: Addressing Gender-based Violence in South African Schools (June 2000) produced by Canada-South Africa Education Management Program.
Filming, Editing, Direction by: Monica Mak
Produced by: Claudia Mitchell, Canada-South Africa Education Management Program (CSAEMP): A Partnership of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), McGill University, and the National Department of Education, South Africa.
About the filmmaker:
Monica Mak is a research assistant of Dr. Claudia Mitchell. She is currently a doctoral student in Communications at McGill University.
Contact:
Dr. Claudia Mitchell, Program Director
McGill University, 3700 McTavish, Rm.337
Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y2, Canada
Tel: 514.398.1318 Fax: 514.398.8260
Email: claudia.mitchell@mcgill.ca
Web: www.utgaap.info
www.iirc.mcgill.ca/cine2.html