By Miharu Sugie, news staff
In a softly-lit building with exposed brick, local film producer Nuria Ballmer watched the actors simulate self-defense techniques on set. These are easy moves, Ballmer said, that even her children learned in karate lessons, but she never had the opportunity to learn.
Ballmer said that women’s education hasn’t changed much, in the sense that women are still not taught how to handle dangerous situations.
“Why isn’t it a part of our education? It’s a shame,” Ballmer said. “I have to share this experience.”
Inspired, Ballmer and Geneva Motion Pictures teamed up with Chris Teebo Films, another Boston-based film company, to kick off a 90-minute romantic comedy, “Boxed in With You,” featuring a young woman namedSarah and her self-defense instructor, Jason.
Linnea Sage, the Boston-bred actress who plays Sarah, said that this movie came at a “really great time,” as many people her age are becoming aware of the concerning truth that sexual assault is treated trivially.
One in three American women will experience sexual assault in her life, according to a study on worldwide sexual assault statistics done by George Mason University in 2005. That means that anyone has a chance of being assaulted, whether they are on a college campus or in the suburbs.
In recent months, The News has reported numerous cases of sexual assault on campus and near campus. Northeastern’s number of sexual assault reports have fluctuated. In 2008, there were five cases, and the number peaked to 10 in 2011. In 2012, there were five reported cases, according to the Boston Globe.
A lot of young people tend to think that sexual assault would not happen to them, Ibis Valdés, a senior political science major and international affairs and women’s, gender and sexuality studies minor, said.
“Unless you ever experience it or have been close to experiencing a scene of assault, you just don’t take it seriously,” Valdés said.
The simplest “everyday things” can prevent harassment and assaults, Sergeant Detective Adam Keeling from the Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) said. Keeling manages and coordinates sexual assault prevention classes through Northeastern’s Rape Aggression Self-Defense System.
As Jason in “Boxed in With You” says in the film’s trailer, Keeling said that risk avoidance is the most important tip.
“Knowing your surroundings, so you can easily recognize when things are out of place. Paying attention to your instincts and reacting appropriately when you realize there is something not right. Practicing safety in numbers, being assertive in your words and actions, and avoiding the potential for trouble by making informed decisions,” Keeling said. “These tips will often avoid 90 percent of the incidents you may ever encounter. Remember nine-tenths of self defense is risk reduction and avoidance.”
Keeling hopes that at the least, this film will raise awareness.
This is why a broader discussion on gender stereotyping is needed, according to Valdés. Valdés, who taught self-defense to elementary, middle school and high school girls in Boston through the Girls’ Lifetime Empowerment & Awareness Program, said that learning self-defense changes women physically and mentally. This understanding that girls need to be confident and know how to use their body to defend themselves is extremely important, especially for girls going through adolescence, Valdés said.
“It’s difficult to pass this message to young people,” Ballmer said. “With a movie like this, where it’s really a romantic comedy, it’s funny, it’s nice to see, and you can pass the message in a way that young people would be more likely to want to listen.”
The film will be available online for free, so the movie can be seen by as many people as possible, Ballmer said.
Beginning in September, the crew will start filming the movie. As of now, Ballmer has raised $7,347 for the production on Kickstarter, and aims to hit $280,000. Contributors will receive “rewards,” such as a PDF file of the screenplay one day before the movie’s release and a physical DVD of the movie. Viewers will also have access to two-minute videos on how to physically and mentally prepare yourself for dangerous situations.
“The only thing I hope that doesn’t happen despite the good intentions of this movie, is that unfortunately women in strong positions, particularly in pop culture, are represented as fighting porn stars — like super woman, cat woman,” Valdés said. “ I hope it’s presented in a serious way to show women how they can be strong and utilize their bodies for self-defense.”
Sage, on the other hand, is optimistic.
“We’re trying to make this a romantic comedy with a positive message for women,” she said. “It’s not just a silly self defense video. As far as I can tell, it’s going to be really amazing.”
Seeing the actors engage with each other on set and Teebo, “the right person to be behind the camera,” skillfully film the martial arts scenes, Ballmer said that she is “expecting great things for this movie.”
The movie will be released in summer 2015.
Photo courtesy Nuria Ballmer.
