My Story Project Title: My Story
By: Malin Annie (Photographer) & Harper (Activist)
Genre: Short Film
Artist Statement: Humans consists of stories. Our stories define us as human beings. They define how we act and behave, how we look at the world, and how we treat people around us.
Some stories are hard to talk about. We keep them secret because of shame and fear, or because of traumas that make it difficult for us to explain them in words.
The stories that are the most difficult to tell are often the stories that are most important to listen to. These stories teach us things we didn’t already know, they force us to see new perspectives, and they create dialogues that we can use to make our society better.
“My Story” embraces this belief by giving voice to some of these stories. By doing so we are lifting them from the darkness and putting them in the light – where they deserve to exist in dignity.
By listening to, and by trusting, the survivors of gender-based discrimination and sexual violence, we can together reduce the stigma of shame and fear that often surrounds these experiences.
It is up to us to create a judgment-free culture that gives the people around us the chance to tell their stories – your story and my story.
Harper and Malin have collaboratively collected anonymous stories, and created an individual storytelling and visual setting to each of them.
The focus has been on creating an anonymous but recognizable universe of reallife events.
“My Story” would not exist if not for the courage of the survivors sharing their stories with us.
My Story was screened at “Gender equality Campaign Event” at the Cambodian-Japan Cooperation Center in Phnom Penh, at the Institut francais du Cambodge and at the Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia. It was sponsored by NGO-CEDAW, Voices for Gender Equality, Henrich Böll Foundation, EU and DanChurchAid.