Prettybird's Sindha Agha Tackles Health Taboos Through Art with ‘Body Language’

Following a critically-acclaimed inaugural series of Body Language short films, BBC Three commissioned LA filmmaker Sindha Agha to direct another series, which launches on the channel’s YouTube on 18th April with a the first of four shorts exploring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

Using the films as a canvas to bring emotional and physical pain to life, the new series of Body Language uses a vibrant mix of painting, photography, collage and stop motion to illustrate individual experiences of ADHD, depression, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Across the four episodes, the series hears from a young woman struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder after sexual assault, a woman who was wrongly diagnosed and medicated for bipolar throughout the majority of her childhood and early adult life, a woman so in the grips of body dysmorphic disorder that she felt she had to quarantine herself indoors for the benefit of other people, and a young man trying to navigate his education under the shadow of depression.

Sindha Agha commented: “We’ve grooved pathways in our public discourse for talking about mental health without risking social acceptance. These kinds of comfortable conversations leave us feeling unseen, unheard and even further isolated. This series abandons that generic, familiar language about mental health in favour of conversations that are far more unapologetic and truthful. Each subject tells stories they’ve never shared publicly before, offering up both their tears and laughter with an unprecedented level of candour.”

Full Credits

Client: BBC Three

Production Company: PRETTYBIRD

BBC:

Head of Social, BBC Three: Navi Lamba

Commissioning Editor, Short Form: Nasfim Haque

BBC Learning Producer: Ashley Kennedy

PRETTYBIRD:

Director & Photographer: Sindha Agha

Producer: Paulette Caletti

Executive Producer: Juliette Larthe

Head of Production: Hannah May

Illustrator: Avalon Nuovo

Animator: Louise Miller

Animation Unit: Matthew Day

Animation Assistant: George Warren

Additional painting: Matty Mancey-Jones

Casting Director: Maxine Lankitus

Sound Engineer: Charlie Cooper

Sound Assistant: Simone Beun Stampell

Sound Producer: Beth Morson

Sound Studio: Clearcut Sound Studios

Archive Stills: BBC Photo Library

TALENT:

Featuring:

ADHD: Laura Frances Allen

Depression: Prasanna Sellathurai

BDD: Hannah Lewis

PTSD: Saijal Reahal

Models:

Cleo Chung

Jace Casey

Matty Crawford