Virtual Emoti-Con

The Momentum of the Butterfly: Women Just Wanna Go & Fly

Creators: Nicole, Juan, Mariana, Ismael, Mark, Sumaitat, Suchi, Elijah, Akoko, Rahatun, Atika, Sofiya, Gabriela, and Charolyn

School: High School Students from Education Video Center

Copy of Momentum poster
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About this Project

The Momentum of the Butterfly: Women Just Wanna Go & Fly is a documentary created by students in the Educational Video Center (EVC)'s Fall 2020 Youth Documentary Workshop. This documentary was collectively conceived, written, filmed, and edited by these students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews for the film were shot remotely, via Zoom, to maintain the safety of the participants. The Momentum of the Butterfly takes an international approach to examining gender discrimination and violence, exploring rising rates of violence against women in Mexico, Bangladesh, and the United States, exploring causes for and ways to reverse this systemic oppression.


The directors of the film set out to examine the differing structural reasons why gender discrimination exists, the kinds of violence and inequality it creates, and the ways that we can fight back against the structures that perpetuate it. Drawing on their own experiences as members of different national and cultural communities, the students look for similarities between their experiences, analyzing the way generational and geographic differences affect the manifestations of violence against women.

Project Links

Link 1

Take a Closer Look

  • Momentum Screen Shot3
  • Momentum Screenshot 4
  • Copy of Momentum of the Butterfly EVC Still 1
  • Copy of Momentum of the Butterfly EVC Still 2

What the Judges are Saying

I'm beyond impressed by what your team has created here (especially virtually)! The film is beautifully made, and I love how you've woven the experiences of women in Mexico, the U.S., and Bangladesh to create a diverse picture of violence against women today. I also love how many different media types your team has included. I think it makes for an engaging and impactful video!

I think this topic is challenging to drill down into a specific area of gender-based violence, and this video covers a lot. I wonder—what would happen if you focused on one element of this video and offered clear next steps for the viewer? This could even be broken up into multiple videos or a series with clear calls to action for each. Has Netflix heard about your team yet? ;) Keep creating + sharing your perspectives! We need more visionaries like all of you!
I appreciate how many levels this documentary operates on. You outline the problem generally, give us specific people to empathize with and then outline what needs to be done. I appreciate all the context and action-orientation. The visuals are engaging; they move when they need to, but not so much that it feels frantic. I appreciate the global perspective. I'd love to hear more about your process! How did you collaborate across such different places, how did you collect interviews and find sources, what has changed throughout the creation and editing process?
Wow! This documentary is EXTREMELY well-done. Bravo! It's not easy to tackle a topic such as femicide with such sensitivity and thoughtfulness. I appreciate the diverse representation of experiences and perspective across the world. It was clear throughout the documentary that you not only wanted to raise awareness about the issue but also amplify the voices of the people that are most impacted. Extremely moving and thought-provoking.
All I can say is WOW!
Phenomenall!!
This film should win a major award. Super artistic, super well done. BRAVO TEAM!!
The words, the story, the art, the message, all combine together to create a piece of art with a powerful message. Super Beautiful.
Use of video clips between interviews, excellent. Timing excellent.
Powerful video!!
Use of the butterfly drawing in between segments, very very well done! Animation awesome.
Poetic!!

Only suggestion to improve - At one point, one of the female voices had some background noise. And one of the narrators could anunciate better – sometimes it was hard to understand. For future revisions, suggest re-recording sections that have background noise.

The team did an incredible job. This is the best student project I’ve ever seen.

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