The Language of Silence VR
The Language of Silence is a VR documentary directed by Amena Hayat. It reveals stories of real Pakistani women across different socio-economic classes and levels of education, who are victims of gender disparity in the country.
As the only non-European project chosen among eight worldwide for CPH:LAB, the documentary trailer was screened at CPH:DOX (Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival).
The Experience
Beginning
The experience starts in the street of Lahore Pakistan in front of a beauty salon. Outside the salon, you see a group of men standing and occupying public space. You, the experiencer, embody a woman, which is made clear by three things:
The way those men outside staring at you
the ladies only sign on the door
when you enter the salon, a receptionist greets you in a way that confirms it
Central Experience (Beauty Salon)
The beauty salon has a full look and feel of a real Pakistani one, complete with the background music, sounds, and the society’s key elements played through a TV on the wall.
It might be the latest Pakistani tv show that everyone goes crazy about， the religious sermon about 72 virgins waiting for men in the heaven or a highly sexualized dance called mujra, which sets the contrasting tone.
All in all, it paints a picture of the world you live in, the patriarchal society.
Central Experience (Encounter)
In the salon, you encounter these photorealistic Pakistani women in different rooms. They will invite you to listen to their stories when you approach.
Central Experience (Memories)
When the story unfolds, the real world of the beauty salon fades out. Now you are entirely focusing on the woman who is talking in front of you.
As the story goes, you start to see and experience her memory flashbacks.
Those flashbacks animate around you and, in some parts, become her perspective. The strong and clear visuals of these memories explain why she is in the position she appears to be in.
Ending
After spending some time exploring the space and the stories, the last woman you talk to asks you to open the door for her when she walks out.
There you see a man picking her up, whom you can recognize from her memories as an abusive husband.
The man greets her happily. They walk away together and disappear in the distance.
This ending symbolizes the silence around issues under the topic of honor, highlights the normalcy of life as it moves on.
Why VR?
The intensity of the medium
How the fully immersive potential of the medium can control what the audience imagines when they hear a narrative of a story and build a reality around it
Take the story of the hymen reconstruction surgery of a bride who has her wedding that same day as an example.
We would like for the user to feel what she felt from her point of view, to let them witness what led to her surgery: the cultural influences, the parental controls, the dinner date with her fiance who demanded her be a virgin, and what the doctor had to say about it.
Distribution Plan
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
What Does This Project Mean To Me?
We collected all these stories because we as creators believe that one story creates empathy while a collection of stories break down bias, and foster inclusiveness.
Currently, the project is on pause due to the global pandemic.
The goal remains to create impact and spark discussion through installations, multi-user VR, screening, and discussion events. We hope this project will help educate, enlighten and empower audiences about intersectional feminism, the terror caused by honor narratives in developing countries, and the effects of poverty on gender discrimination.
My Role
Work closely with the director to come up with visual styles, narratives and user experience, pitch to potential funders
As the creative director, lead the technical team to experiment and execute the design
#Documentary #VirtualReality #GenderDisparity #HumanRights
