1 in 3 women will be the victim of some kind of domestic violence in their lifetime. That scary statistic means that more than one woman in your life will be, or already has been, a violence victim.
Because only 25% of assaults get reported, you may not be aware of victims in your life. Although this statistic may come as a surprise, domestic violence represents the leading cause of physical injury to women, more than automobile accidents, muggings, and rapes - combined. Not only that, but in the US more than three women a day are murdered by husbands or boyfriends. This statistic, then, should be no surprise: the abuser is often a member of the family. Women, and men, who are assaulted go through extreme measures to hide bruises, scrapes, cuts, and more. How can something so prevalent fly so low under the radar? One of the major aims of outreach efforts is to raise awareness and help counter the darkness surrounding assault.
Filmmaker Ben Kumanovski and Dianne Manns, CEO at Sydney, Australia’s Sutherland Shire Family Services (SSFS), met on an airplane and got chatting about their respective jobs. Dianne’s work revolves around assisting victims of domestic abuse (both physical and emotional), while Ben’s filmmaking resume includes work for the Department of Education.
The result of this chance meeting was a powerful, 1:41 video targeted to men entitled Pull Ya Head In.
In the first scene, the main male character verbally abuses his partner who has gone shopping. He’s an asshole; he berates her for spending so much because they’re “on a budget,” and takes extreme measures to ensure that she won’t be spending anymore of “his” money. In the second scene, out with his friends, he makes light of the situation until one of them calls him out on it.
The script and shooting didn’t come about instantaneously. As Ben describes, he and Dianne stayed in touch over the course of three months while he read up on domestic violence statistics and considered both a budget and how to “heighten” the tension through the script. Finally, Dianne let him know that SSFE had received a grant and they’d be able to begin shooting.
With only a two-week window, Ben and Dianne held a casting call, receiving hundreds of applicants, and reached out to Ben’s film crew, all of whom made time to shoot. With a solid crew behind him, from a gaffer and make up artists to a camera operator and sound producer, along with a “excellent support” team, and two actors who met his requirements, Ben and Dianne shot a the short film
Afterwards, Ben had three days to cut Aaron and Caroline’s already seamless acting into a tension-filled short film. His sound producer and animator helped create the film, which is now on YouTube.
Ben’s goal is for this video to reach over 100,000 people. He says, “that… will be a huge success.” As men, Ben says, “if we hear a mate say something insinuating he is abusing a woman we must speak up and tell him to pull his head in. It’s a catchy slogan and it’s going to work.”