An aspiring filmmaker from Steinbach turned the personal experiences of women and girls from around the globe into a short film.
Olivia Koop is a recent Steinbach Regional Secondary School (SRSS) graduate. She says she was “down in the trenches looking for scholarships" and stumbled on ConnectHER, an organization supporting women and highlighting their experiences. They host the annual ConnectHER Film Festival, a competition for youth filmmakers to showcase issues women and girls face.
Koop decided to enter the competition, and while there was only a month until the deadline, she completed her entry titled “The Virtual Reality.” The idea came from her essay about online gaming harassment for a class. However, she added different ways women face online sexual harassment.
“Most of the stories were influenced by girls I've seen go through something similar or things I've also experienced myself and just hoped that I brought it to a bit of a wider audience,” Koop says.
Along with herself, actresses Brynley Peters, Gracie Thiessen and Karmel Clamor and co-writer and composer Sydney Burke are also 2023 SRSS graduates. Koop is grateful for their contributions and says they played integral roles in the process and final product.
The film depicts three characters facing sexual harassment in different ways. She decided to shine a light on the issues and based her scenes on real-life statistics.
“Sexual harassment is going to appear and show itself differently online, and I think that's also what I wanted to show. It's not like a guy waiting in an alleyway in the dark, waiting for some unsuspecting girl, but it's still just as serious,” she says.
Koop says the anonymity possible with social media leads many to think they can “do whatever they want.”
“Most cases don't get to court, and if they do, they are often not taken seriously," she adds. "But the fact that these people can now completely hide themselves, they can completely delve into their deepest, darkest, most evil desires. It can be really discouraging.”
She hopes her film creates a positive impact and encourages viewers to take action.
“I want to show that people can be just as evil and just as vile on the internet than in real life, and obviously I don't want to just leave it there. I want things to get better. I want to show how this transformation from real life to the Internet works and I want to show we should do something about this. We can do something about this because these are based on real events and real people and real stories,” she explains.
As for her next steps, she will move to Toronto to study screenwriting and pursue her dreams.
“I want to be on movie sets, I want to be on television sets, even if it's a hallmark movie I'm there, I want to be there. I want to know what it's like being on a set. And I feel like once I have that experience, you can really start to make the short films, or even possibly the movies that I want to make," she says.
To support Koop and her film, visit the ConnectHER website and find her video in the Ending Violence Against Women category. There is an option to vote for her film, “The Virtual Reality,” by clicking on the heart icon.
"Not only would this represent women and girls in my hometown, but it would just represent Steinbach. I feel like this would be such a cool thing that Steinbach could get behind,” she says.
Voting ends on September 1, and the finalists will be announced on September 15. Winners will be announced at ConnectHER’s Film Festival on November 15 and receive scholarship awards from their respective categories.