Every Body is a Treasure Exhibition and the Finding Venus Film
It started with a question from my 5-year-old niece. "Auntie Mandi am I fat?"
Then answer was irrelevant because that wasn't the point. The point was the fact that my mind felt like it was chewing on shattered glass when it asked "What the hell was wrong with our society that a 5-year-old was worrying about a thigh gap?" Since social media was introduced on our phones in 2011 there has been a three-fold increase in suicides of girls aged 10-14. Eating disorders are on the rise. Why? I think a contributing factor might be the fact that each day we see 400-600 photoshopped images of a genetic 1-5 percent of women who have been chosen as the ideal. So I wanted to create a counterpoint.
The Every Body is a Treasure exhibition is my love letter to my niece and every other girl/woman who has been sold the BS story that there is only one kind of beauty (skinny, white, and young). I only qualify for one of those now, so the exhibition has also been a love letter to myself and through the creation of it, I have deepened my self-compassion to a point I never thought possible. My hope is for some of that to rub off on the viewers and participants as well.
Please note trailer is NSFW - Contains nudity and discussions of abuse
Where can we see the film?
Current festivals slated to show the film
- Short Encounters Film Festival in Greece
- Doc Edge Film Festival - New Zealand 19 June - 31July
- Christchurch
- Wellington
- Auckland
- Online
- Love and Hope International Film Festival - Barcelona - Spain 17-21 September
Awards:
Official Selections
Want to do the workshop that the women did in the film?
The women and girls in the film took part in a Finding Venus Workshop put on by Mandi Lynn and Every Body is a Treasure Trust. The workshop will be travelling NZ in June / July but after this there is an opportunity for communities to request to have the workshop come to their regions / countries. If you are interested in bringing the film or the project to your region please reach out to thetrust@everybodyisatreasure.org.
We have plans at this stage to bring it to Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Whanganui, Eltham and Turangi. If you would like to be put on the waitinglist for a space or if you would like to become and host and help bring the project to you region please put your details in this form.
Get on the Every Body is a Treasure Mailing List
It took me 20 years of working with women and my own body shame to develop a framework for developing body positivity. Would you like it? Just drop me a line for the free PDF. Would love to support you on your own body love journey.
Watch the TEDx Talk about the Project
Need Support?
Do you want to do your part to help reduce the number of girls and women impacted by the effects of body shame?
Then click on this link to find out how you can help be part of the solution.