By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
AT FIRST glance, posing in the photo above doesn’t appear to have taken any particular courage.
But four of the young Geelong people in the image had to muster extraordinary reserves to stand in front of a camera.
Not only did they pose for the photo, they all appear in a documentary, made by film student Kassandra Brudenell (centre) on the issue of body image and self-esteem.
Each of the four – Dan Heubel, Suse Korzendorfer, Lisa Mitrov and Lachlan Excell – have a reason for hiding in the background, avoiding going out in public or keeping their secret from even their closest friends.
Ms Brudenell hopes the documentary, Now You See Me, will be the start of a greater community awareness and acceptance of differences.
“Self-esteem issues can sometimes be confused with being vain but, as their four stories in Now You See Me expose, it’s far from the truth,” she said.
“It’s something that people don’t talk about and each of them has suffered really badly for it.
“The process each of them went through to find the courage to expose themselves like this was truly inspirational.
“Whether it was a learning disability, a skin disease, a facial birthmark or being overweight, they were bullied for it and many of those around them never even knew they were suffering.
“It just reiterates that everyone has their own story and we need to take the time to listen to them.”
Ms Brudenell said for part of the shoot the crew stripped to their underwear to create a more-comfortable environment for the four exposing what they considered to be their defining flaws.
“I felt uncomfortable standing there in my underwear and I learned something about myself. You understand that everybody has insecurity.
“It was amazing because they said that going through the process of making the film actually lifted a burden from their shoulders.”
Ms Brudenell, studying a Bachelor of Film and TV at JMC Academy, pressed classmate Sarah Beardmoore and film maker Corey Dawson into service to make the entirely volunteer production.
Geelong feature film director Kelly Dolen mentored and supervised the one-day shoot at a Grovedale studio.
The documentary is in post-production and will be released on social media using the #nowyouseeme.
“My vision is for it to go viral on social media and hope that many more people find the courage to speak out about their own issue,” Ms Brudenell said.
