Of course, RealStars wants to note that tomorrow is International Woman’s day. This is a day to highlight the oppression and discrimination against women and girls that still exist around the world. On the 8th of March 2015 we want to pay attention to the sexual slavery that millions of women and girls are subjected to in prostitution and human trafficking. Brutal assaults occur, and women’s and girl’s rights are daily violated.
Through a cooperation with students at Hyper Island we launch the film My First Time and at the same time we direct a sincere thanks to the team. In the film it is a clear contrast of expectations and differences between women that are fortunate and women whose bodies are made available to men in prostitution.
In connection with the launch of the film, we asked students at Hyper Island a few questions about their cooperation with us.
Why did you choose to highlight “My first time” in the film?
We chose to highlight “My First Time” in the film for many reasons. First and foremost, it is a phenomenon that people tell about their first time in front of a camera and then share it with the world. The contrast between the first time for fortunate women and for those who are victims of trafficking or prostitutions, are enormous. It is easy to think that the first time always should be romantic, tremulous and exciting for everyone. This is clearly not the reality.
Discussing a topic like sex the way we do is in itself controversial and we hope that it will open people’s eyes. Also, we hope that the cartoon style that we used in the film will awake the nostalgic feelings of the audience.
What is your message with the film?
The aim of the film is to show the audience a romanticized image of a first time that slowly proceeds in to a bitter reality. With that, we want to point out that many of us actually have a romanticized and generalized image of sex. We want to express how it really is for a lot of people. The main character in the film also becomes a victim of human trafficking through a person she was in love with (her prince charming). We want to inform that it can also be boyfriends or other related people who do this.
How was it to tell a story on the subject of prostitution and human trafficking? Challenges and opportunities
I know that many in the group, including myself, felt that the subject was rather burdensome to work with, especially during the research phase. It is a crucial topic that people need to know more about, so even though it was difficult we all felt happy to work on a project for an organization that stands for something good and important.
The challenges for us was to not step on anyone’s toes. Not only is it an important subject, it is also a sensitive one. Missteps could arouse a lot of emotion in people. The opportunities we saw were primarily to get to do something for a good purpose. It got us all to fight hard and to get an awesome product in the end.