Two-time Academy Award Winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has released the second episode of ‘Fundamental’ titled ‘Brazil – Defenders of Justice’.
The episode has been directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and produced by Safyah Zafar Usmani from SOC Films.
Indeed, this is the first time an all Pakistan crew has created a global series. This is also the first global series to be officially presented and released by YouTube Originals and Refinery29.
In Fundamental, the second episode from Brazil, “Defenders of Justice” focuses on the women’s movements in Brazil against nationalism, racism and patriarchy to save women’s health and lives.
Brazilian law permits abortion only in cases of rape and danger to the woman’s life. Sexual and reproductive rights are severely limited, and there are deep racial prejudices against Black Brazilians. Civil society is also under threat, and activists in Brazil remain on high alert after the murder of prominent Black Brazilian activist Marielle Franco in March 2018.
The Brazil episode, “Defenders of Justice,” follows Lucia Xavier, who is part of a movement of powerful women activists who are reframing reproductive rights as an issue of gender rights and racial justice, as she and others work to address security threats against activists fighting for reproductive rights.
The episode also features Daniele Duarte, an Afro-Brazilian lesbian activist who participates in protests and marches against the rise of the extremist president Jair Bolsonaro.
Lucia, Daniele and others are part of a vibrant and intersectional feminist movement in Brazil, mobilising what some are calling a “Feminist Spring” in Brazil as the Supreme Court considers decriminalising abortion.
A production of SOC Films and Global Fund for Women, Fundamental is a five-episode international documentary series, which follows dynamic activists from five countries who are disrupting the status quo and radically altering the course of history for women and girls – and all historically marginalised people and communities globally.
Fundamental has been shot and produced by documentary filmmakers from SOC FILMS, Safyah Zafar Usmani and Shahrukh Waheed and directed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, in Brazil, Georgia, Kenya, USA and Pakistan. Indeed, with this series, SOC Films aims to present and empower the next generation of non-fiction filmmakers in Pakistan.
The second episode from Brazil, “Defenders of Justice” can be viewed at: