#crowdfunding - In The Name Of Your Daughter
A film about the most courageous girls in the world, risking everything, including their lives, to run away from genital mutilation and child marriage.
Director/Producer Giselle Portenier
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I am making In the Name Of Your Daughter because female genital mutilation is the biggest systematic human rights abuse committed against girls and young women in the world today, and yet no one has given these girls a voice. Much has been heard from those who defend the practice, and activists who are fighting against it, but the girls themselves, the ones who do not want to undergo this procedure and suffer the life-long effects of it, their voices have yet to be heard. This film will, for the first time, give them a voice.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This film will be an inspirational film from Africa, a story of courage and hope, showing girls as young as eight standing up for their fundamental human rights, risking everything, including their lives, to escape from genital mutilation and child marriage. You’ll see them dodging lions and leopards and angry parents to run to a Safe House.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film is a character driven documentary, showing how girls are yearning for and standing up for what we all want—to live freely, without being harmed, able to pursue our dreams.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The film goes into principal production in December this year—when three hundred girls are expected to arrive at a Safe House in Mugumu, Tanzania. The Safe House is built for 40 girls, so there is no way of knowing what will happen when so many girls descend on the Safe House. The girls will be risking their lives to make it there; some will be sick, some may have been injured, and we expect them to be quite traumatized, so the filming needs to be done very sensitively in order not to add to their trauma.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
So far, our Indiegogo fundraising campaign shows incredible interest and support for this film. In less than three weeks we have raised more than $43,000 from 19 countries, and counting. Not many people have heard about mutilation—and when they do, it seems they really want to know more; when they hear that children as young as eight are leaving everything and everyone they love behind to run away, people are very moved. They can imagine their own daughter in danger. And they are donating in the name of their own daughter.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The support we are receiving from friends, family, and complete strangers to finance the principal filming has moved me personally very deeply. I have always thought, hoped, that people would care about this topic even though it is sensitive and emotional, and this proves that I was not wrong. People do have the ability to care about things other than themselves, their immediate family, their neighbourhood. They care about the fundamental human rights of children, and they support giving these girls a voice. All the support we are receiving is deeply humbling.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?’
It is tremendous that ‘We are moving stories” is interested in highlighting our film. We are a long way from achieving all the financial backing we need to complete this film, and we are so committed to bringing this film to world audiences but we can’t do it without help. We absolutely having to do the filming during the next ‘Cutting Season, which is imminent, so we are urgently looking for backing. Once we have the principal in the can, we hope that we can get backing for post-production and, eventually, distribution.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We need a commitment from broadcasters, distributors, film festival directors and journalists to help get this film rolling and noticed.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We hope this film will inspire and move people to think deeply and talk about whether or not human rights are universal or not, and whether cultural practices trump human rights. We also hope to make a Swahili version of the film available, and that it will then have an impact on the conversation in countries affected by mutilation and child marriage
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Should we care and and do we have a right or responsibility to speak up about traditional harmful practices in the developing world. How are these practices affecting our own countries.
Would you like to add anything else?
I’m a documentary filmmaker who has focused on human rights for most of my career, especially the human rights of children and women. I believe this may be the most important film of my career, simply because it is about an issue that has so far affected more than two hundred million women-and counting. Every 11 seconds a girl is forced to undergo mutilation, every 7 seconds a girl under 15 is getting married, and yet their voices are not being heard.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Right now we are preparing to head off on the shoot in Tanzania, a shoot that will go on for the better part of 6 weeks.
More info:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/in-the-name-of-your-daughter/x/7718625#/
inthenameofyourdaughterfilm.com
twitter: @ITNOYDfilm
instagram: @ITNOYDfilm
facebook: InTheNameOfYourDaughter
Interview: November 2016
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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In The Name Of Your Daughter
A film about the most courageous girls in the world, risking everything, including their lives, to run away from genital mutilation and child marriage.
Length: 80 minutes, give or take.
Director: Giselle Portenier
Producer: Giselle Portenier and ? (to be determined, still looking)