finding bibi

a few of years ago i said yes to a question that changed my life.

on an otherwise ordinary day, sitting in melbourne university's student union building, my friend bita asked if i would accompany her to pakistan and india, assisting her as the producer for a portion of a documentary she wanted to film. the idea wasn't fully developed but she was inspired by the courage of mukhtaran bibi and so she wanted to find her, and tell her story, interweaving it with her own - the quintessential wannabe all-american girl who wasn't interested in her iranian heritage or the cultural norms that came with it - like the notion that boys could do whatever they wanted, while a girls crowning achievement was getting married. bita wanted to explore all the paradoxes she faced growing up and set out on a journey to find out what women in other cultures and corners of the earth were experiencing. the notion of the veiled woman was something we were confronted with in pakistan. we were curious to understand whether these women considered themselves inferior, less than, and if so - why?

the film is coming together...bita's doing most of it alone and experiencing all the tests that come with single-handedly trying to bring a massive project into fruition. the preview is below...check it out...it's going to be an amazing film and i'm grateful to have been a part of it.


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