Florida Film Festival 2020 – Ghazaal
A 13-year-old Afghan refugee hustles around in a refugee camp, trying to survive the harsh circumstances when she experiences her period.
Interview with Writer/Director Ragini Bhasin
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Hailing from India, a developing country that still shies away from issues regarding feminine hygiene, I was keen on telling the story of a girl who doesn't victimize herself and fights for what she rightfully deserves. Periods are still considered a taboo in every part of the world and seldom shown on the big screen to avoid making the male audience uncomfortable. Moreover, in a lot of movies, women are shown as victims who need the help and support of someone more capable (usually a man) to release them from all their miseries. This is the primary reason why I chose to make a film about a girl experiencing her period in one of the most resourceless situations possible- a refugee camp, and has to figure out how to best deal with the situation herself. There is no man that comes to her aid and she has to tread solely on her journey to find the best solution possible.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This film isn't an educational or preachy film but explores an intimate journey of a young girl who is experiencing her period without having access to any feminine hygiene products. I hope the angst and helplessness turned into gutsy behavior resonates with everyone some way or the other. I made this film to normalize periods in the audience's mind so that it becomes less of a taboo. Having said that, I do think everybody, from a young girl to an old man should be educated about periods and even about period poverty that pervades in a number of countries.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
It is a character-driven piece where the themes are dictated by the lead character and her interaction with the world around her. It is a coming of age story at its core as Ghazaal has no option but to grow up and embrace her womanhood. However, it also has the sub-theme of holding onto one's innocence and that is why the movie ends with her picking her nose and playing with the booger.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I developed the film in the prestigious Aotearoa Short Film Lab in New Zealand in March 2018. For research purposes, I visited and volunteered at a few refugee camps in Lesvos, Greece where I interviewed women who told me that there weren't any feminine hygiene products available at the camps and the store products weren't affordable. Thus, they wrapped socks and old rags in their underwear during their period. I realized that something I take for granted was an absolute luxury for them. The research at the camps really helped me stay true to the setting, the story and the characters of the film.
As we got close to production, I decided to shoot it close to my hometown in India, as there are plenty of Afghan refugees residing there. A big fan of portraying drama in the most undramatic way, I was fortunate enough to work with non-actors and children who were fluent in Dari. That was undoubtedly the most special part about the entire experience as they were the most enthusiastic and kind people I have ever worked with. The kids in the film were determined to have fun and we mostly improvised the scenes to bring out the rapport and candor they shared offset. One of my most favorite moments during production was when a kid who was a background actor and not a part of the scene that we were currently shooting walked up to me and said in the most innocent way- 'I'm going to give you one last take and then I have to go and play in the other lawn.' He was absolutely unaware of the camera and didn't know that his scene had ended, as he didn't know what the word 'cut' meant in film lingo.
On the production side of things, we built the refugee camp from scratch on barren land. Again, as lucky as I could get, I happened to know someone who owned the ashram and permitted us to live there for 10 days. So the entire crew and cast stayed together during the shoot. To be honest, I am very proud of what my team accomplished with the given resources and time. We bought around 20 tents and a lot of props that were obsolete. However, we were very conscious of every single thing that was shown in the frame as we wanted it to be as realistic as possible. So even the plastic bottles that you see lying on the ground were mostly without labels as in the camps every family living in a tent had a few bottles with them which they refilled regularly. They lasted so long that with normal wear and tear the labels would come off. This is just an example of how careful we had to be with even those props that were not directly used by the characters but were somewhere in the background.
After the shoot, we spent around four months in post-production. The original script was different from the final film and we cut off one of the main characters - a 40-year-old woman who is like a motherly figure to Ghazaal in the climax of the film. I felt that the character was redundant and weakened Ghazaal’s journey. So the climax that you watch now was a shot right in the middle of the film. Also, the specific shot was, in reality, a mistake. The lead character was not supposed to smile but when a dog passed by her she couldn’t control her laugh. Thankfully it worked well because her smiling, in the end, is the key visual element to demonstrate how she feels about her entire journey.
The film was finally completed in June 2019 and since then has won awards and has played a number of festivals worldwide including Tirana International Film Festival, Oscar-qualifying Florida Film Festival, Fargo Film Festival, Beaufort International Film Festival, Women’s Film Festival and 20 others worldwide. It also won the Meredith Macrae Memorial Award by Women In Film, Calcutta International Film Festival Award for Most Outstanding Film, South Dakota Film Festival award for Best International Short Film, and the ARTE Short Film Award in Germany where the film’s distribution rights were sold for Germany and France.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I have received positive and negative feedback on my film and usually about the same thing. Some people love the fact that it is not a plot-driven film, whereas some people don't like it for the same reason! I have also received positive and negative comments on the ending as it was perceived to be too abstract by some and others found it to be very visceral and emotional.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Yes, it has definitely challenged me and has made me want to work harder at the development level of the script. The one feedback that surprised me came from two people - one a good college friend and the other a new friend I made at a film festival. They both said that they felt the ending describes who I am. I found that to be the best note I could have received because I feel that they really understood what I was trying to do with the film and felt exactly what I wanted the audience to feel.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope to get an agent so that I can refer to more directing work. I would also hope that I could find potential buyers for the film.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would love for the film to reach a global audience and increase its accessibility. I feel that it is a story that needs to be heard!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope people wake up to period poverty, the refugee crisis and also, they empathize with all the refugees and undocumented immigrants. Hopefully, they also stride towards helping them and setting them up for success.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Have you ever wondered how thousands of young girls coping in resourceless refugee camps deal with periods?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am currently working on Thoroughbred series like Middle Ground for Jubilee Media where I work as a director. Simultaneously, I am working on the post-production of my short film which is about an 8-year-old girl who is overwhelmed with emotions when she meets her stepbrother for the first time.
I just started writing the script of my first feature film which is a social thriller about a mother whose 16-year-old daughter returns home after being kidnapped only to find out that she was hiding all this while.
Interview: May 2020
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Ghazaal
A 13-year-old Afghan refugee hustles around in a refugee camp, trying to survive the harsh circumstances when she experiences her period.
Length: 14:49
Director: Ragini Bhasin
Producer: Kevin Wang
Writer: Ragini Bhasin
About the writer, director and producer:
RAGINI BHASIN is an award-winning film director from India who is currently working as a director at Jubilee Media, a Youtube channel with over 5M subscribers and 1B views. She is the recipient of the Meredith MacRae Award in 2018 sponsored by Women in Film for telling diverse stories. Her first short film The Deafening Silence was picked up by India's biggest short film distributor Pocket films and has garnered almost 3M views. Her short film, Ghazaal which she developed in the prestigious Aotearoa Short Film Lab in New Zealand was screened in DGA in October and has played over 20 festivals worldwide, including Oscar-qualifying festivals like the Florida Film Festival, Tirana International Film Festival, and others. It also won prestigious awards like Best International Film at South Dakota Film Festival, Best Outstanding Film at Calcutta Cult International Film Festival, ARTE channel award in Munich, etc. She also sold the rights of her short film to the prestigious German-French channel, ARTE. Currently, she is working on a number of popular series for Jubilee Media, like Middle Ground, Spectrum, Seeking Secrets, and Odd Man Out and working on new series for them. She is also working on her feature film which is a social thriller about a mother whose 16-year-old daughter returns home after being kidnapped for a week, only to find out that she was hiding all this while.
KEVIN WANG is a film producer and a graduate from the M.F.A Film/TV Producing program at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. He currently works at Skydance Media. Kevin believes that film has a strong influence on shaping one’s world perspective, and is a strong tool to convey human emotion, evoke inner resonance, and impact lives. He hopes to become a content creator that could bring value to the advancement of the Asian American community.
Key cast: Ghazaal Khirandesh (Ghazaaal), Bilal Khirandesh (Salar- brother), Farid Khirandesh (father), Bilal, Tawhid, Nasrad (3 kids)
Looking for: distributors, film festival directors, producers, buyers
Facebook: Ragini Bhasin
Instagram: @bhasinragini
Website: www.ghazaalthemovie.com
Other: IMDb
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Film festival - Florida Film Festival in September; Indian International Film Festival of LA in September; Tel Aviv International Ftudent Film Festival .