One of the privileges and blessings of my life, my job and my personal and professional relationships is the opportunity to have access to stories, images, breaking news and information that isn’t necessarily mainstream yet. Like many blessings, it comes with the reality that when these images and stories are coming at me at such a constant and fast rate, it often becomes easy to detach or become slightly numb due to oversaturation. I’d say this is especially true of the use of images of young, impoverished children from all over the world. We’ve all seen them. They are often skin and bones, large bellied, flies using their faces as a runway, and generally not white. Often these images are used as a fundraising tool, and the line between exposure and exploitation is frequently a blurry one.
Every so often a piece of media comes along and sets themselves apart from the rest. I often reference Invisible Children and their films as the new model of story-telling from the nonprofit perspective, compelling, smart, thoughtful, well-produced and respectful of their subjects, in my opinion. If you’ve known me for any length of time, I’m sure Participant Media has come up in conversation at some point. I am a huge fan of documentaries and docu-dramas, with my favorite production company being Participant, producing such films as The Kite Runner, An Inconvenient Truth and next month’s Food, Inc. (go see it!). I love the idea of utilizing arguably the most influential tool, film, to reach those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the stories, images and lives depicted in each of Participant’s films. When you are watching a Participant film, suddenly the world isn’t so big, and you are invited into someone else’s reality that you probably wouldn’t otherwise have access to. You also leave the theater with a sense of responsibility, and hopefully, the tools to respond and take action.
I wasn’t surprised then, when a friend very recently introduced me to another film production company called Mpower Pictures, that I immediately fell in love with their mission, vision and films. With my personal life mission statement being, “to be a voice for the voiceless,” and in an industry where the current trend is to manufacture low budget, high concept films that generate lots and lots of money, (think horror) there is much to be said for a film company whose mantra is the following:
“Mpower seeks to create films that empower audience, profoundly impact culture, and entertain. Mpower is committed to telling stories that are compelling, bold and uncompromising.”
In the last month I have seen two of Mpower’s films, “The Stoning of Soraya M.” (due out end of June) and “As We Forgive” (available on DVD). While both films deeply moved me, The Stoning left a particularly strong aftertaste. Without destroying the film for you, I will briefly share that the true story is set in a remote Iranian village, and traces the story of Soraya, a beautiful young wife and mother, who is wrongly accused of a crime that sentences her to death by stoning. A frightful look into the treatment of voiceless women, one woman boldly challenges status quo by telling this story to a visiting journalist. The film is controversial, nothing less than chilling, and I encourage you to see it (disclaimer: the film is not for the faint of heart or stomach, think The Passion of Christ). As someone who likes to talk, a lot, I found myself literally speechless for some time after viewing The Stoning.
I recently had a conversation with a friend who saw The Stoning. My friend expressed anger and frustration at the film, stating that it was “almost too much.” “I got it, I got the point, why did they need to show so much, for so long, ” she questioned. We went back and forth a bit on the “why.” Had they numbed it down, how would it be any different than any of the other several films we have seen recently, or would we have immediately thrown it into the “over-saturation” category and dismissed it and its message? Would telling a less intense version of the story held true to the reality of the situation? This actually HAPPENED to someone and why shouldn’t her story be told and known? Will telling such a story create as much outrage on a larger level and lead to action, pressure and change? Would that be possible had a milder version of the story been told?
I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do admire Mpower for telling a compelling, bold and uncompromising story, and I hope you’ll go see the film in June and mull over the same questions.
View the trailer:
Where to see the film:
- LA Film Festival (June 20th): http://www.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2009/filmguide/Search/the%20stoning/AL
- Look out for it’s release on June 26th across the country in select theaters
How to learn more about an organization that is addressing issues of women’s rights around the world, and take action!
- Human Rights Watch: http://www.kintera.org/c.nlIWIgN2JwE/b.4567395/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx
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