Opinion cannot be silenced

BANGALORE: Invisible is a movie that depicts the experiences of a woman and the changing dynamics with her surroundings following her rape. This film by Israeli director Michal Aviad is set to be screened on Thursday, the final day of the Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFes 2011). In her interaction with journalists on Wednesday, she shares a brief on her film and a behind-the-screen peek into her thought process. The film is based on a ‘polite rapist’ — A rapist who victimises women after befriending them. It is based on a real life serial rapist in Israel, who is convicted 10 years of imprisonment but later let go due to lack of evidence. Sixteen Israeli women are his victims. This film is based on two of his victims. “It is a docu-drama. Although I use facts and quote reports to bring the plot together, the story is fictional. Every woman, who is raped by him, has a different story to tell. The way she reacts and her psychological turmoil is what I wanted to capture,” she says. She feels that the trauma  of rape affects not just the victim but her family and friends as well. “At the same time, it is important to look at them (the victims) as just women who are living their lives,” she says.The society has to change the way it looks at the controversial subject of rape and in her effort she has made the crime “invisible”. “I do not want to excite people by showing the act of crime. The act is not shown as a visual. Through this film, I want to talk about how to stop offenders from raping women.” It is inevitable that the topic of identity politics comes up for discussion with an Israeli filmmaker. On the impact of Israel and Palestine conflict, she says, “Lily, who is one of the main characters in the film, is an activist. It is because of her stand as an activist that she feels more acutely the helplessness and humiliation of a victim.”  She adds that as a filmmaker it is in her place to take a stand on politics and fight for human rights. “I do not make films to make profit.... We are funded by two organisations and hence  funding is not a problem for us. The government too does not interfere. Once, the Minister of Culture opposed to one of my films. She said that it shows Israeli government in a bad light. But, our mouths cannot be shut by law,” she concludes on a rather strong note.