Directed by Sindha Agha and produced by female-led production company The Corner Shop, this short film titled The Waves for MTV brings an authentic insight into the Pain Gap–a bias in the medical community that leads to women’s pain being under researched, misdiagnosed, mistreated and/or untreated.
Inspired by the words of Virginia Woolf, The Waves finds women engaged in familiar rituals of surviving and concealing chronic pain. Director Agha compels us to turn our gaze toward the suffering society has historically looked away from; her work is ultimately a testament to women’s strength— and a celebration of all the ways they survive and thrive.
Agha kicked off her career by writing and directing Birth Control Your Own Adventure, acquired by The New York Times, which quickly reached 12.5 million organic views, was nominated for a 2019 News & Documentary Emmy and selected for the Tribeca and Palm Springs film festivals. Agha has since been awarded two separate Sundance Institute fellowships, won the Cannes Lions Gold Young Director Award, won “Best Episodic” at Tribeca X, directed two seasons of her critically-acclaimed series Body Language for BBC Three, contributed to Radiolab, The New Yorker, Vox and The Atlantic, created the series Twenty Ten Twenty-Five for the Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation, and directed a short film for The Wellcome Trust.
The Waves will run across all linear/social/digital platforms within MTV Entertainment Group (MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, CMT, Logo, Smithsonian Channel, PopTV, TV Land) throughout March, which is Women’s History Month.
Credits
Client MTV Production Company The Corner Shop Sindha Agha, director; Anna Hashmi, founder; Tess Mitchell, Katie Taylor, exec producers; Tara Trangmar, producer; Siona Davis, production manager; Katie Scott, production coordinator; Carlotta Beck Peccoz, 1st AD; Sylvia Notermans Piattoni, 2nd AD; Natasha Duursma, DP; Gary Kent, Steadicam operator; Kat Hawker, art director; Lauren Rucha, wardrobe; Kayla Selway, hair and makeup artist. Editorial Work Editorial Raine Keene, editor. Color Primary Ale Amato, colorist. Sound Paramount
Top Spot of the Week: EHRAC, Animation Studio NOMINT Depict Life “In Limbo” As Families Search For Loved Ones
This animated film titled In Limboย depicts the journey of a heroic woman protagonist representing the countless families in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe (where Chechnya is situated) searching for their forcibly disappeared loved ones. Utilizing theatrical elements, the film highlights the unnatural disruption caused by enforced disappearances and delves into the profound trauma these families endure. It emphasizes their long battles with the domestic authorities as they seek answers. The film also underscores the vital role of community support in helping these families cope and continue their fight for answers, serving as a compelling call to action for justice and human rights.
Through intimate storytelling, In Limbo raises awareness of the ongoing uncertainty that leaves families in a perpetual state of limbo, unable to find closure.
Directed by Afterman--the animation duo consisting of Tsvetelina Zdraveva and Jerred North--and created and produced by London-based animation studio NOMINT, In Limbo was commissioned by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).
In a joint statement, Zdraveva and North shared, โOur film takes place on a theater stage, highlighting how such tragedies are far removed from ordinary life,โ they continued. โThe stage is circular, resembling an artificial, perpetually spinning obstacle course, with a targetโthe red tail lightsโjust within sight yet never within reach, symbolizing the familyโs never-ending quest for justice.โ
โWe used a limited primary color palette to contrast the two worlds all families are pulled between. Minimalist compositions of starkly silhouetted characters and environments create the ominous atmosphere of a deeply painful and... Read More