The Language of Silence
An immersive experience in a Pakistani Beauty Salon, where women share their secrets
CORE TEAM
Amena Hayat - Director
Jo Zhang - Experience Designer
Heder Hayat - Producer
In Pakistan, the world’s first Islamic nation to appoint a female head of state, only 13 percent of girls are still in school by ninth grade.
The Language of Silence is a mixed reality documentary that reveals stories of real Pakistani women across different socio-economic classes and education levels, who are victims of gender disparity in the country. The project is still under production.
The project was selected by CPH:LAB and UN Women Global Voices VR Film Festival.
Background
The status of gender injustice among Pakistani society differs significantly by community. As a result of this power imbalance that began with education or lack thereof, rampant domestic abuse and a high rate of child marriages and forced marriages still remain. Young girls are forcibly married off to resolve the feuds between different clans. There are 1000 honor killings, 400 acid attacks a year, while punishments meted out to the murderers are very lenient. It is important to note that a vast majority of crimes are never reported. Voicing all this is not safe, however, and silence is the norm.
Design Principles
01Anonymous Story Collection
Due to the sensitive nature of the stories, it is essential to protect people’s identity.
02Balanced Power Dynamic
To explore and interact in the experience, players need to acquire permission from characters. The power dynamic between the player and the characters must be well balanced.
03Dynamic User Journey
Build lighter moments into a segmented structure in a heavy experience. This gives the player time to pause, to shake off sadness.
04Present a Solusion, Not Just Nightmares
Rather than merely presenting other people's nightmares, we expect this project to be more educational and help the audience to understand the solution we are proposing - education.
Distribution
For audience outside of Pakistan (primarily U.S., Europe)
VR Experience that allows users to walk around, targeting immersive film/documentary festivals
For audience inside of Pakistan
Website / Mobile VR, targeting education institutions