This film is about a young Asian man struggling as he chooses his gender as female but finds that he is rejected by society.
Screenings: Official selection at Cannes International Shorts, Garofano Rosso International Film Festival, Piazza Libertini Forme, Edificio de Col, La Paz, Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions, Büyük Taarruz Uluslararası Kısa Film Festival
Director’s Statement: BREAKING THE STIGMA involves the journey of someone with an identity crisis – in this case, concerning gender identity. Then, I got the character to meet with a religious person to create the atmosphere depicted in this film. The film tries to bring together contradictory differences, reveal minority lives and help the community to respond without violence or bullying.
Herlambang Hashemi is an independent filmmaker based in Malang, Indonesia. He is also a screenwriter and visual effects supervisor. He is concerned about exposing social issues and cultural differences. His main goal is to use narrative to bring up the conversation about these issues and to help communities against racism. Hashemi also has community scriptwriters to create screenplays for future projects.