ABOUT THE FILM
Our short documentary film, titled 'LIVING IN CHAINS', explores the existing Pasung practice in Indonesia, despite its ban, through the perspectives of traditional healers, caretakers as well as the patients deemed as mentally-ill. It also digs deeper into the unconventional methods employed to heal them.
'Pasung', refers to the physical restraint or confinement of the mentally ill in the community. This includes using chains or even isolating them from the social world.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The stigma surrounding mental illness is still prevalent in our society today. Human rights' violation among people with mental illness is not an uncommon occurrence that many are still unaware of. It is especially saddening when people who are deemed mentally ill are not given basic human rights or medical attention in order for them to heal and have better control of their lives.
THE IMPACT
By supporting our project, it means giving us an opportunity to share an important message to the world. We aim for this message to reach different parts of the world, towards a positive mindset of mental illnesses.
We want the audience to be immersed in the situation while providing insights on why Pasung practice in Indonesia is still rampant despite efforts to eradicate the violation of human rights. We want the world to see not only the healing methods used on the patients but a whole new perspective reflecting both culture and tradition. With different factors coming into play, the film will shed light on why the belief of such practice is still going strong.
All in all, this film serves as a reminder that every individual should be granted the right to receive proper treatment and that mentally ill should not be neglected and stigmatized.
FUNDING
We aim to raise a total of SGD 3500 (~ USD 2600). The funds we receive from this campaign will be divided across the following sectors:
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Our production cost covers a bigger area as we have invested a lot of time and effort traveling across Indonesia to meet up with the KOMNAS HAM as well as the activist team to understand more about the current situation in Indonesia before we proceed to shoot. Currently, we are working on the post-production based on our timeline below.
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Who are we?
We are a group of university students from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, who will be making a short documentary film for our Final Year Project.
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From left to right: Kannan Vijakumar, Atikah Hasimen, Nur Humaira, Chia Cai Yun
Contact Us
Email: thechainfilms@gmail.com
Facebook: @thechainfilms
Instagram: @thechainfilms
Other Ways to Help
If you are not able to contribute financially, you can still provide a helping hand through the following:
- Share the link to this page
- Follow the progress of our project on our social media & help spread the word.
Thank you in advance to everyone who contributes to making this documentary happen. You are important to us and we truly appreciate any and all forms of support!
