Summer Reasearch Project : Key Concepts & My Media Text - Saving Face.

Summer Project : Saving Face

I have chosen the documentary 'Saving Face', 2014 directed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a Pakistani Journalist. Saving Face follows the life of a few of the innocent hundreds (in specific females) who are victimized by brutal acid attacks, in Pakistan. Above is the trailer of this documentary.

Media Representations

1. Who is being represented (in what way? By whom?)
   The victims of the acid attacks shown in the documentary are being represented
   as innocent and shown to be vulnerable in the scenario, as they are the ones who the documentary focuses on. A dominant representation of Doctors are shown, as Surgeon Mohammed Jawad is shown to fly over from London to help those at the 'Burn Centre' in Islamabad. Doctors= helpful, caring ect. In addition the culprits have been represented  negatively, as one of the men is first shown smoking & the interviewer questions the acid burns on his hands, which he is shown to lie about and denies that the acid burnt him whilst saving his wife.
2. Why is the subject being represented in this way?
   As the documentary is to show+ the vulnerability of acid attacks, and the aftermath of the horrendous act it was important to show victims in a helpless state mentally and physically.
   The culprit was
   Doctors were shown positively to show the audience that there is help available, which can make the poor victims much better & feel & look like themselves again,
   The burns centre in Islamabad was also portrayed positively yet again, to show that there's some help available.
3. Is the representation fair and accurate?
   The representation of women in Pakistan being seen as the property of their husband & inferior than her husband and his family, are fair and accurate - as the women shown in this are shown to be mostly burnt by their husbands and/or his family.
4. What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?
   There are many opportunities provided for self-representation for the subject, this is because it was a documentary that followed the experience of the individuals who were burnt. The victims had the opportunity to not only share their experience, but what they want to happen next, and also how they feel about receiving help & change in Pakistani Law.
   One of the culprits, who was in police custody until his court hearing regarding the acid attack was also given the opportunity for self-representation. He told the interviewer that his wife burnt herself, although this was to give a negative representation of this man, as the documentary was edited so the audience were already aware that the culprit and had attacked his wife - so his justifications were futile, and made him look even worse for acting innocent.
   Furthermore the surgeon, Dr. Jawad has also been given the opportunity to represent himself highly, as he had given information about his career, and how the acid attacks make him feel, and this was really personal. 

Media Languages and Forms 

1. What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings (CLAMPS)?
   The setting is used in order to create authenticity. Rather than shooting the entire documentary in one place, the filmers and directors/interviewees are shown to be in various places, such as court, police station, the house in which one of the victims was attacked and the burn centre. This allows the audience to learn more about the character  - and builds attachment and empathy for the character. A prime example of this was when Zakiyah(victim), looks around the room she was attacked in and states that ''this is the room my life was ruined in''.

Narrative 

1. How is the narrative organised and structured?
2. How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
3. How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
4. What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
5. What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
6. What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

Genre

1. To which genre does the text belong?
   -Documentary
2. What are the major generic conventions within the text?
   - Voice over
   - Authentic footage, recorded themselves
   - Natural Sound & Lighting (although subtitles were included due to language barriers as part of       some of the scenes, some traditional tunes were used in the back - and these were parallel.
   - Interviews with experts are also included, for example the surgeon who helps the ladies.
   - On screen text was also used, in order to introduce characters and location, such as 'Muzaffghar, Pakistan'.
   - Visual coding  i.e.. Mise en scene. E.g The doctor was introduced wearing and the culprit was shown to be smoking and handcuffed - to denote negativity.
3. What are the major generic themes?
   - Violence
   - Treatment
   - Punishment, law and injustice against woman
   - Human rights
   - Illiteracy leading to aggression
   - Poverty & Compromise
   - Children, and sacrifice
   - Lack of support
4. To what extent are the characters generically determined?
   The characters (victims) who are shown are shown to be determined to
5. To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text?
   - The audience's generic expressions are fulfilled to a large extent, since this documentary provides an insight on the lives of the individuals shown, not only does this documentary get
6. Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?
   In saving face, the two main subjects are the victims of acid attacks & Dr. Mohammed Jawad are the main 'stars', the 2 victims are strongly associated with the genre Documentary, since this documentary is about them, and their courage to approach help. Of course, the main person who helps them and gives them a new life in a sense is Dr. Jawad their plastic surgeon - who is 'Saving' their 'Face - thus explains the name of the documentary.

Media Institutions

Time Warner and Channel 4 are the main institutions behind this documentary.
 HBO (Home Box Office), is owned by Time Warner. HBO is an American premium cable and satellite television network.
Saving Face had a key advantage as HBO In 2012 (the year of release) was the #1 premium pay television service in prime-time television and total day ratings. In 2013 the network received 2 Golden Globes, 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2014) and 27 prime-time Emmy Awards. (http://www.timewarner.com/company/operating-divisions/home-box-office)

Saving face had its UK TV premier screened at 10pm (post-watershed) on the 16th January 2013, on Channel 4. Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded public service broadcaster. They do not receive any public funding and have a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive.In addition their remit is also includes them appealing to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society.

There were many other organisations involved with Saving Face, in particular to fund the film, this included Chicken & Egg Pictures, The milk haus, Junge film, the fledgling fund and impact partners films. More information follows:

Junge Films, is Daniel Junge (co-directors) page - he is in association with this film purely as he is the director, and invested what he had for this documentary.

Chicken & Egg Pictures is dedicated to supporting women non-fiction film-makers, such as Sharmeen Chinoy & Daniel Junge whose diverse voices and dynamic storytelling have the power to catalyse change, at home and around the globe. We match strategic financial support with creative mentor-ship offered at critical junctures in the work of a film-makers. Since 2005, we've provided more than $3.3 million in grants and 5,000 hours in mentor-ship directly to film-makers.

The Fledgling Fund is one of the main funders of the documentary. This is a foundation found in 2005, and since then they have supported 333 media projects. They believe that film can:
-Engage communities in timely issues
-Help teach students about complex topics
-Bring people together around a common story
-Spark on line and offline conversation
-Allow us to explore complicated issues and understand how seemingly distant policies affect individuals, families and communities
-Strengthen social movements
-Inspire action
Films/documentaries that do this, and make the world potentially a better place are provided funds. They have a passionate belief that film can inspire a better world

Impact Partners films goal is to provide both financing and guidance for Films that engage pressing social issues have never reached larger audiences or had greater social impact than they do today. Similarly to Fledgling.

The text has been influenced by the institutions and foundations behind it. Firstly Channel 4, run by OFCOM have a remit of being appealing to different tastes and cultures, and screening this documentary based in Pakistan - in another country, in another language shows that they are proving to meet their remit. They have also shown to be innovative, experimental and distinctive by screening this documentary first in the UK - as this issue is very delicate - and making UK aware of this acid attack violence in Pakistan they have proven to be all three innovative, distinctive as well as experimental(as they didn't know how it'll go).

In addition HBO had an aim to introduce more multi-language content, and this documentary is in Urdu - although subtitles are available, most of the documentary is based on another language, this could be a potential reason for HBO's support for Saving Face.

Media Values and Ideology

The major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text is that women are equal to men, and should not be mis-treated. This text is biased, and only shows female victims attacked by acid, making the audience assume that males are not attacked by acid, however they - the majority are women. The value that women are superior in Pakistan & are treated as slaves
In addition, the ideology and assumption that the poor have no choice, are helpless and vulnerable have been enforced and subverted. Enforced as the victim was shown to live with her husband again after the attack, since she didn't have enough money (or her family) for her to be supported in her parent's house. On the other, she was getting freely treated by Dr Jawad an expert from London, free of cost - and this is a life changing opportunity.
Ideology of the laws against crime in Pakistan are poor have been enforced, as the characters in the documentary strive to get a laws against acid attacks in place.

Other on Saving Face (Reviews, Articles, Awards +)

-Released - March 2008, in USA.

-Short Documentary, 40 mins long.

-Directors/Co-director: Sharmeen Chinoy Obaid(Pakistani Film Maker) & Daniel Junge, shown below.

- Saving Face was screened at the Human Rights Watch film festival 2012, on 28-29 March, and was also broadcasted on Channel 4 in April 2012.

- Won a number of awards, as shown. Most precious was the Oscar. This was both of their first. Sharmeen Chinoy was known to be the first person from Pakistan to win this Oscar, so this was a massive achievement for her.


*Other awards:

-There are many reviews/articles posted by various people, and many social media responses to this by big media faces, such as Angelina Jolie - who is a actor & director. This article by Jolie on Sharmeen Chinoy and the documentary Saving Face, was published on TIME.com, an American Magazine. In addition, Chinoy was labelled as on of ''The world's most influential people: 2012'', by Angelina & TIME mag. This article is shown below.

-Guardian Article: 

This article is on the justice system in Pakistan, and considered Pakistani Cinema to b focusing on Human Rights, and they are successfully voicing the human rights and woman rights issues such as rape in these movies and other issues in the country and culture, such as terrorism. ''Several Pakistani films have received international acclaim, including last year's transsexual-son drama Bol and the country's much-anticipated first ever English-language film, Waar, about the "war on terror".''

-The documentary has its own website, and is also shown to have an official page on award sites, such as Edge - who have given Saving face the'Best International Short, Documentary Award, Edge Festival 2013', these websites are shown below.

There are many review/articles available on Saving Face too, these provide the audience with basic rankings on the documentary, as well as images and facts on the documentary and any other aspects, here is a popular one by celebrity:

Roger Ebert, an 'American film critic, journalist, and screenwriter's article shown below:

The official websites offers an image of one of the protagonists on the left, a summary of the documentary below a full trailer. The summary includes information on the protagonists, who are Dr. Jawad, a plastic surgeon, Rukhsana & Zakia - two Acid attack victims. Dr Jawad and Marvi Memon is shown as a hero, who is helping the victims of acid attacks, as Jawad provides surgery for a number of victims in Islamabad Burns Hospital. And female politician Marvi Memon who advocates for new legislation, on giving the culprits of Acid Attacks a life sentence in prison.  The documentary persuades audiences to get involved with ''Project SAAVE' (Stand Against Acid Violence).
The website is shown below.

Get involved with Project SAAVE: ''The mission of Project SAAVE (Stand Against Acid Violence) is to leverage the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary film SAVING FACE to raise greater awareness of the horrific global problem of acid violence, to spotlight the efforts of NGOs and other change agents working to eliminate it, and to highlight ways that individuals can get involved worldwide.'' They work mainly for Female victims, and children - however provide support to anyone in the world who reaches them & males. They work mainly in Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh, India & Nepal, as unfortunately these are the main country's where Acid Attacks tend to happen. Here is some more information about this organisation and what they do, and who supports them. 

Here is the nominations, for 2012 Oscars, where Saving Face win the Oscars for a Short Documentary.