Senior Georgia Sasso has created a film titled “Consent” in which she depicts true stories about rape culture and consent through the perspectives of teenagers in today’s society. The film is centered around reenactments of real, negative experiences with consent that she has gathered from peers.

“I’ve always been very passionate about advocating for survivors of sexual violence and I felt as though combining that passion with the resources given to me through [Advanced Video Production] would be a perfect way to start a much-needed conversation about consent and rape culture,” said Sasso.

Sasso began the process of creating this film by conducting around 20 interviews with teenagers aged 14-19 on their experiences with consent and rape culture. She asked each person around 20 questions, and each interview was about 30 minutes to an hour long. Georgia then started condensing the interviews and editing them together to create a 15-minute-long audio clip that consisted of what she felt to be the most compelling parts of each interview. Then, Georgia called on several of her friends who are actors to reenact the stories of the interviewees in 10 minute Vignette style scenes. Each scene was filmed by Georgia and Sophomore Thomas Bozalis at her house separately, so they could adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols.

“I definitely believe that film can be a creative outlet for social justice and advocacy. For me personally, using my art to make a difference is the most important thing about filmmaking,” said Sasso. “Art has always been used to express emotions and explore personal topics in a way that no other form of expression can. For me, art is my channel to spread my message and advocacy work on consent and the other topics I am passionate about.”

Sasso has received some mixed reactions on this film depending on the viewer and what their personal experiences with consent are.

“I have had a few people tell me that the topic of consent is very personal to them (because they or someone they know is a survivor) and thank me for speaking out about the topic. Others have told me that watching or being involved in the film made them reevaluate their own actions and how they may have contributed to rape culture in the past,” said Sasso.

Sasso has made an impact with this film, and hopes to continue filmmaking throughout college and possibly professionally. So far, “Consent” has gotten into the Chicago Indie Film Awards, Venice Shorts, New York Flash Film Festival, and FROSTBITE International Indie Fest.