‘HOPE’ II A Short Documentary (Elena Bytyqi, 2021)

Elena Bytyqi:

"Why don’t they leave?" This is a common question asked, particularly by those who are not victims of abuse. Domestic abuse can affect both men and women physically and emotionally, and there are many barriers that in the way of an individual leaving whether that is fear of threat, trauma and more. ‘Hope’ is a short, experimental documentary which explores a personal story of domestic abuse.

This documentary begins as a phone call, exploring the personal story through different chapters of how they met, intimacy, their engagement, marriage, pregnancy and ending with the present and where she is now. The documentary displays a variety of different visuals from 2d animation to hand made collages to support the narrative. As the phone call comes to an end, there is a final graphic, providing the viewer with domestic abuse helplines that are available in America, Britain and Kosovo. This documentary was a solo project created during lockdown with the interview taking place on Zoom. It gave me the opportunity to showcase my skills and essentially pushed me to become much more creative and I feel that 'Hope' really displays the subjects story in an intimate way."

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