gelli pascual | filmmaker & photographer

Happy Women's History Month! Shoutout to all the women out there who are continuously pushing themselves to advocate for what they believe and paving their own in as well as pushing to be the woman they needed when they were little.

In celebration of Women's History Month, I want to share with you our poetic short film, "Not Your Erotic.” Written by Jo Bulaong and directed by me, this short film discusses the fetishization and sexualization of Filipino women. We've released this poetic film, "Not Your Erotic" last year. A couple months after the release, I found the perfect song to tie the story and the message altogether and decided to create a remastered and extended version of the film. Please watch all the way through the end :)

Sexualization of women caused by society’s unreal beauty standards can be very detrimental to women’s mental health. This can lead to depression, eating disorders, anxiety, low self-esteem, or body dysmorphia. I want to use my platform and art to advocate for women's empowerment, raise awareness about my culture, as well as open up the narrative that women are more than just eye candy. We have so much value to us than society makes us seem to be.

Thank you @rubyibarra and her team for giving our short film the license to “Us - Ruby Ibarra” for the ending credits.

All credits are shown in the film. :)