A visual film review for Digital Rights Monitor on the short film Swipe by Puffball Studios. The film is about a young boy addicted to iFatwa, an app that crowdsources religious death sentences, spends his days swiping on the lives of strangers as he attempts to get a top spot on the Ajar Board. It talks about violence and religious intolerance through the lens of technology and the anxiety stemming from it.
“Swipe is our attempt at confronting a growing crisis resulting from a culmination of the nexus of technology, extremism and fascism. At the heart of this story is a confrontation with increasingly hostile, alienating, divisive circumstances and a plea for greater empathy, before it's too late.” - the creators of the film.
Digital Rights Monitor, initiative by Media Matters for Democracy, reports on digital rights and internet governance issues in Pakistan and collates related resources and publications. Media Matters for Democracy is a Pakistan based not-for-profit geared towards independent journalism and media and digital rights advocacy.
The format of the review aims to push the limits of journalistic forms, merging the roles of writer and illustrator into one. Read the complete article here.
The text reads: “Left, Right, Good, Bad, Right, Wrong, Innocent, Guilty. The story of Swipe unfolds in the space between these binaries. A space marked by the confusion and chaos that these seemingly discrete terms engender, and the lack of integrity they hold in a justice system that has been erected on dishonesty, erasure and pretense. The protagonist oscillates rapidly between these binaries, leaving behind a trail we must follow, a trail descending into the heart of the film to reveal its silent centre… a solemn request to look around and look within and question oneself. We are taken there gradually, carefully, with a gentleness and curiosity that forms the basis of honest storytelling. And this, we discover, is the real task of the film – to speak with conviction but not without fear... to raise one’s trembling fist against injustice. Because to be afraid is to be human, and in a society where honesty is difficult, harrowing work, one needs to hold on to one’s humanity.
Perhaps this is why Swipe is so haunting; it is deeply personal. Our gaze is able to penetrate the screen and see the faces telling the story. Reflected in them are our own... and we leave with a quiet and heavy heart, but a heart that strives to do good”.