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Two Women. One Epic Journey. Countless Stories That Deserve to Be Heard

I love what Cat and Hannah are doin and they need our help to finish this film. Have a read and see if it appeals to you or you can share with anyone who maybe interested…

Women Behind the Wheel’ is a feature documentary currently in the final stages of post-production. 

The film follows us – Cat and Hannah – as we take a dramatic 3000km drive through three Central Asian countries: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Our trip takes us from bustling cities, across dusty deserts, reaching dizzying heights along the infamous Pamir Highway. We use the journey to speak to as many women as we can – learning what life is like for those growing up in countries off the standard tourist trail.

We set off determined to hear stories about women fighting against patriarchal tradition. But our preconceptions are challenged when we meet women igniting change from within their own traditions.

We begin to realise that feminism exists in all shapes and sizes – and collectively, even the smallest changes can amount to a revolution.We’re passionate about using the documentary to highlight the ongoing issues women face in Central Asia – namely domestic abuse, poverty and inconsistent access to education.

We’ll be releasing the film at festivals and in UK cinemas on its completion, and we’ll be running panel discussions alongside screenings to help raise awareness of female empowerment movements in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. 

How you can help

We currently have a rough cut of the film which we showed at a test screening in London last September. Having received some really helpful feedback from our audience, we’re ready to crack on with the final stage of post-production. To do that, we need to raise a further £5,000 to cover the costs of the following: 

Editor fees – our editor needs a month more to implement all the final changes

Music score and rights – we need to pay for music rights and for a composer to design a score to underlay the film

Sound tech – this is crucial to polishing off the film’s audio quality for cinematic release

Colour grade – ensuring colouring and visuals are consistent across the film

Map graphics – working with graphic designer to create the maps

We’ve been creating this documentary for the past 3 years, stealing every second we can outside of our day jobs to get it to the stage that it’s at. The women who contributed placed phenomenal trust in us to tell their deeply personal stories, and it’s our commitment to get their voices heard that continues to drive us to make it.

We realise it’s a difficult time to be asking for money, but if you would consider making a donation to our film we would be immensely grateful. We totally appreciate that not everyone will be in a position to contribute financially. But there are plenty of other ways you can help support the film. We’re looking for people who can champion the film and the women at its heart, helping to build an audience around it before the release. Please reach out if you’d like to become an advocate of the film: catandhan@yahoo.com

We’d love it if you could share photos and clips on your social media, with a link to our crowdfunding campaign.

If you have work mailing lists or social groups please share the link there too! Any help with spreading the word about the film would bring us a step closer to the finish line, allowing the women’s voices at the forefront of the documentary to be heard. 

To follow our journey to completing the film, follow our social media pages below: @women.behind.the.wheel

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