Socially Sanctioned

In contemporary Australia, institutionalised, tacitly sanctioned, abuse continues in a multitude of settings – despite the awareness of those in charge and that of the general public. The stories presented in this series are shocking, but sadly, not new. Why do we Australians – who pride ourselves on our sense of fairness – allow this to continue?

By telling the stories of individual people and making these violations feel personal to the viewer, Socially Sanctioned can contribute to raising debate, as well as shifting the audience from a state of simply ‘knowing’ to one of taking action.

Australians are not unaware of the stories documented in Socially Sanctioned but is it easier to be passive than active… We aim to help tip the balance in favour of the victims.

This project aims to have two distinct types of outcome:

1) RAISING AWARENESS THROUGH MEDIA
To produce six high quality short animated docos to raise awareness, and hopefully outrage, in the wider community of socially sanctioned abuse in Australia.

2) DIRECT ACTION
Equally importantly, Cath’s vision for this project is for it to be highly socially inclusive in its production methods. Rotoscope work is perfectly suited to distribute online, in job lots, to a number of inexperienced animators. Episode One, ‘White Goods’, (now completed), was animated by seven people, all of whom were capable, but marginalised and/or under employed. These people were trained by Cath personally in the technological and creative aspects of the rotoscope process, thus providing them with new computer and IT skills – while being paid appropriately for their work. It is Cath’s intention to continue this working method, making sure the production process as inclusive as possible.

The producer has met many of the storytellers in the course of her work as a Mental Health nurse and educator of marginalised people.

One of the main reasons for making Socially Sanctioned is to help shift the audience from a passive to an active state through engaging with these documentaries – to move from ‘knowing’ to ‘doing’. Actions might involve joining campaigns, signing online petitions, writing to Members of Parliament as well as offering empathy and direct support for victims of socially sanctioned abuse.