In conversation with the team behind Blue: A Kaleidoscope
Traumatised, sickened, betrayed and threatened are just a few of a numerous things a rape survivor feels especially in a country like Pakistan. While no one except the survivor can truly know what the trauma feels like, Danial K. Afzal’s Pakistani-American short film, Blue: A Kaleidoscope aims to shed light on the struggles of a rape survivor. Based on a real life event, this spine-chilling tale has been recommended by Tribeca and has also entered the run for an Oscar-qualifying film festival in Turkey. We spoke, not just with Danial, but with the majority female team who put this gripping 9-minute film together.
Danial K.Afzal - Director
Most people are unable to imagine the trauma faced by rape survivors. How do you try and showcase the lack of support they receive from their families and society in Blue: A Kaleidoscope?
As a man I would still not be able to either imagine nor understand the trauma of a sexual assault or rape survivor especially when it comes to women. And I don’t think any man in this country would either. We could have thousands of pundits out there giving you a 1000-word answer and still won’t be able to understand. So let’s just keep that straight before we jump on to the lack of support in our nation. I showed the lack of support through the game of blame and ignorance that our nation is so vile at playing. My character, Zohra, was raped and she’s being hushed; and this is where the lack of support comes in. Zohra goes through some acute post-traumatic-stress disorder and her community calls it a daura (panic attack); again this is where the problem gets red-flagged and is mistreated or worse; misjudged. This was one of the most important messages we wanted to convey because it is a reality, most victims suffer from mental disorders like PTSD, debilitating depression, and anxiety and they are not taken seriously. Also, I would not call them a rape “survivor”. They have not survived the trauma, they are still in it. They are still victims of it.
As the director of this movie, what particular areas did you want to highlight for the message to be conveyed in a better way to your audience?
The rapist, Talat, is still out there as a man who doesn’t have to worry about anything. Why? Because the victim won’t say anything. Why? Because she’s a woman and the sanctity has to be preserved especially for women in our nation. Izaat ka sawaal that can’t be compromised. I wanted to show how the trauma leaves the victim hopeless and functionless, in the movie she was unable to even conduct her basic chores at home every time Talat was around in the streets. Her mental stress started manifesting into her motor function, which is called Conversion Disorder according to a doctor at Oxford, who also happens to be a friend. This is when the mental stress manifests into physical things like how her hands started twisting and shaking and turned blue.
While on set, did locals ever ask you what the movie was about? What did you tell them? What were the reactions you received?
The woman whose house we used was the biggest support. We looked at her house, told her a bit of the story, and she was onboard to a point that she didn’t even come out of her small room in the corner so our production doesn’t get disturbed. But then while we were shooting the last scene, a man came out of nowhere and yelled for creating such chaos through our film. Yeh shareefon ka mahala hae he kept scorching out. So I guess we tried to be less vocal on the subject knowing people might blow it out of proportion but at the same time we were keen to see some closeted support around like that of the woman who let us use her house.
Was scriptwriting of this challenging topic hard for you? How did you get your ideas ? What were your sources?
My source was Zainab, Kainat, Mukhtara, Shazia, the mother who was gang-raped on the so-called “safe” motorway in front of her children, a 19-year old Dalit woman, a 12-year old boy from Khairpur district, and countless men, women and children who’ve been assaulted. And the worst part was to see people joining the bandwagon after years to come out on the streets. Murder of Zainab Ansari, a 6-year-old girl, brought Pakistanis out on the streets. The chants of ‘Rape’ ‘Bachi’ (adolescent girl) ‘Ziyati’ (abuse) became troublesome to a point where people felt the environment was unsafe for their children. My question from the get go was ‘why now?’ This has been going on in Pakistan for a long time and Kasur, the city itself, was infamous for it. That being said, this film is dedicated to all those women who’ve been judged and hushed for being victims of rape.
Cases and stories of the 10-year-old girl shown in the 9-minute film are not rare and such heinous acts are committed daily in the country. Do you feel any change will come about soon? How do you think your movie will produce that change?
Honestly, yes. People have reacted to this short film with overwhelming praise. We were lauded for speaking so eloquently on the after-effects of an assault. So the fact that people talked and reshared and sent us numerous messages praising our efforts is where we hit the jackpot. That said, so far there has been a spark of awareness because of social media. Social media is the powerful tool we used and we are hoping to do more eventually. Every little effort would count from this point onwards and we can’t wait to build more so-called ‘controversial’ topics and make people at least speak on them publicly.
What was your experience working with an all-female team? Did you feel uncomfortable at any point during the project? What made you feel comfortable?
That was a completely calculated decision. As I said above, I as a man would still not be able to understand the trauma and the pain behind a sexual assault of a woman. My team that included a female executive producer; a female DOP and editor; a female lead; and a 10-year old female cousin of mine made me stay intact with my vision and I guess that’s what made me comfortable.
Being a majority female team, how do you think you were able to portray a rape survivor’s plight as opposed to if it was a men’s team?
It wouldn’t have been possible in the first place. I don’t know how to further answer the question, but I don’t see an all-male team man giving justice to such a narrative, which is kind of weird knowing we have such men trying to take a lead out there by not letting women come up front. Wonder why the problem is still out there unsolved.
Mehr Sher - Executive Producer
Do you think Pakistani producers should focus on this topic more? If so, then why?
Yes, I think Pakistani filmmakers generally avoid very sensitive or controversial subjects. I think that films like this have a lot of impact and make the viewer more socially aware of such issues. The impact is more long lived than a simple news byte on television. Films like these have an important role in society and may even serve as a catalyst for social change.
Were you comfortable working with a male director, given the nature of the genre?
It was amazing to work with a male director and give more perspective to the film as a female who can help with the portrayal of the rape incident. Also since Danial and I are co-founders of our production company and have been best friends for half a decade, it was extremely comfortable and we had an excellent dynamic for this film.
Post-production, did you ever feel that there was a lack of support when it came to supporting the promotion of your movie?
No, in fact we experienced the opposite. Like I said, because the Zainab rape case shook the whole country so much, everybody felt an urgency to be more aware about child sex abuse in Pakistan. All the people we approached were incredibly supportive of the film and its message.
What made you want to choose this project in particular?
For the first time in Pakistan, the Zainab rape and murder case truly put a face on child sex abuse. In the aftermath of the Kasur case, it was this case that really shook us and the whole country. This and the BBC report is what inspired us to take on this difficult subject. We felt we had to do our part to immortalise the incident in the public’s conscience.
Will you continue to produce more content such as Blue? And why?
Yes, of course. Danial and I founded Arash Visuals, LLC with the objective of portraying sensitive and overlooked issues in South Asia. Our mission is to spread awareness through our role in society. It is very important to us to continue bringing such issues to the fore.
What were the challenges you faced while working on this project?
Filming in overcrowded urban alleys was very challenging. Also in the final scene, where you see her screaming as she recalls her rape, it was very difficult. We had received permission from the neighborhood leader, however it turned out that all the families in the street were unaware and people came rushing out to see what happened when she screamed. We had to manage the situation as quite a few people were shocked. On the whole, we learned a lot about filming short films and how to make certain scenes more aesthetic and impactful.
Urooj Kamran Azmi - DOP and Editor
While editing the movie, you had to go over the scenes again and again. Some scenes are very sensitive for the audience, did it trigger you in any way?
A professor once told me that creating films was a way for us to confront some of our deepest, darkest fears and sometimes those fears are our lived realities. Yes, it was difficult, but it also reminded us all of why it was important to tell this story and how we could do it in the most impactful way.
Do you think editing such sensitive content is challenging for you?
Editing and shooting a film like Blue is all about trying to make the audience uncomfortable enough to empathise with the character. To do so, you have to truly visualise the vulnerability of your characters and with a sensitive topic like this, especially with child actors, you have to be very sensitive in making sure you do justice to your story while making sure your actors don’t feel uncomfortable at any point. It was important for me to incorporate their feedback and concerns so that they felt safe and heard throughout the creative process.
In your opinion as an editor, are nine minutes enough to convey such an important message? If so, how did you do it in Blue?
I honestly think a short movie is the best way to convey a message loud and clear. We did not focus on a lot of details because we wanted to keep it crisp and clear. Nine minutes was more than enough for me to work on.
What aspects of the movie did you want to highlight most during editing, to make viewers focus on it more? And why those certain areas only?
Danial and I wanted to visualise the symptoms of PTSD - both the internal and the external. We wanted to use tight shots to emphasise gritty and crude actions like chopping vegetables or overwhelming sound design and gloomy dark and blue visuals as well as intense cross-cutting to better express the victim’s sense of entrapment and to show how memories can haunt you.
Should there be an initiative taken by the government to provide budget and resources for filmmakers to make short movies like Blue, to spread awareness?
Filmmaking is about telling important and/or compelling stories that can spark conversations in our society. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of incentives or resources for aspiring filmmakers to pursue this field innovatively and explore new kinds of content creation. A lot of the time, difficult topics are labelled as “too controversial to air”. We believe that messages like these must be on local television. Most of our country’s population watch news channels, so why not broadcast it in the form of public service message? Regardless, in order to support the evolution of cinema in Pakistan, the government should invest more resources in allowing talented filmmakers to spread their knowledge of impactful storytelling and to support research in this field.
As a woman, what were some of the restrictions you felt you faced while putting this short film together?
I was lucky to have a core team of very powerful and mutually empowering women and men on my team that allowed me to take certain liberties while putting this film together. Not only was I treated with respect for my professional opinions, I also felt safe enough to have open conversations with the team, which were important since we were addressing such a sensitive subject. However, sometimes you don’t get taken seriously by camera operators who are not used to seeing female DOPs and while it does give me a sense of pride to break those stereotypes, it does get frustrating when time is wasted on set or a good shot is missed out on because of unnecessary discussions or crew members who don’t take you seriously.