I am woman
Middle-aged women can be invisible to some young people, who appear to assume subconsciously that middle-aged women have nothing valuable to offer. This prejudice may result in intrusive and even obnoxious behaviour towards women. Kiri Mitchell, an artist and Lecturer at Dunedin School of Art, drew on her own and others' experiences to make an animated short film called Turf, about women's response to invasion of their personal space.
Kiri loves the freedom of stop motion animation because it gives her ownership of the whole process: narrative, model-making, filming and editing. Kiri collects objects which she repurposes to appear in her work in other guises. She doesn't need actors, a set or permission to use an existing story, and is limited only by her own imagination.
The dominant theme running through Kiri's film-making is the strength, capability and autonomy of women. Women should be known and respected for what they say and do, not judged on their appearance. Her characters are unapologetically ordinary-looking women, who are comfortable in their own bodies.
Turf has been selected for three different film festivals, most recently for the Women Over Fifty Film Festival 2021 in which it won the bronze award for animation.