KOCHI: Regardless of the country or continent, women are always oppressed. Caged, an English short film directed by US-based Malayali Leeza Mathew discusses this misfortune in detail. The short movie that revolves around four women narrates the volumes of mental and physical abuses women, even those who are educated and employed, face every day. The film won many accolades at international film festivals like Paris Women Festival, London Indie Festival and Toronto Women Film Festival.
Caged was recently released on the YouTube page of The Cue Studio. Written and directed by Leeza, the movie was conceived in 2020. A study published by the United Nation published about the increasing instances of domestic abuse during the lockdown prompted her to come up with her debut filmmaking attempt. According to her, emotional abuse is more life-threatening than physical assault Her characters - Sandra a former fashion designer, Jaya a homemaker, Vinu a working mother and Claire a transwoman - face many cases of abuse during the pandemic and lockdown while living in the USA.
“The movie is based on real-life stories. The issues faced by women are universal so the film is relatable to everyone. The dialogues are made in English to make them understandable for a global audience. Young Americans are fast to respond to abuse and fight back, but domestic violence is still rampant in India, even among youngsters,” says Kottayam native Leeza, who has been living in the US for over a decade now.
The 18 minutes-long short film also discusses the mental health of women. From sexual abuse to emotional torture, the film pans the unpleasant situations many women including working mothers go through inside the four walls of the home. The pandemic made things worse as most women were forced to spend more time with their abusers. The character Vinu, played by Shilpa Arunvijay, faces emotional torture from her husband. Sandra, played by Sachinmayi Menon, is a victim of marital rape. Jaya played by Divya Santhosh, fights loneliness despite sharing a home with her husband. The film was also a debut acting project for many of them.
“One may ask why not get a divorce. In a foreign country, when a woman from India gets divorced, she is ostracised. Their family back home, parents or children refuse to hear them out. With Caged, I want to create awareness about such situations and bring a change in the mentality of these families,” adds Leeza.
The director’s inclusion of a transwoman in her film was a deliberate effort to include a dimension of womanhood that barely finds representation in mainstream movies. “Claire is played by transwoman Riley Poole. They are usually sidelined in films. So I wanted to give their identity a prominent space in my film,” adds Leeza.