"poetic, pragmatic, passionate"
   -Louise Penn

"a resistance against the narratives of shame and weakness associated with the menstrual cycle"
-Lilly Gill

the Project

"My period has mostly been an experience of hiding: hiding tampons, hiding pain, hiding emotions. All to ensure I wasn’t pinned as weak. Two years ago, I began reading the trending literature about menstrual power and suddenly felt like I was uncovering a secret code- a blueprint for empowerment that was in tune with the natural world. 

Each film is a short audio-visual expression of the strengths I’ve begun to notice as I’ve charted my own cycle and listened more closely to my body. Talking with other women across age has furthered that sense of power as post-menopausal women expressed missing  bleeding because it gave them a sense of ‘restart’ each month and newer menstruators  shared their close attention to the need to rest and honour the pain, rather than ignore it. It’s also been important to me to talk with those across the gender spectrum to see how they relate to a female structure like the menstrual cycle since so often it is the other way around.  Male friends who felt they shouldn’t ever ask opened up about their own emotional and physical cycles. One father shared his understanding of the power of bleeding as a life force- not something to shame- but rather uplift. Trans friends offered unique insight into hormonal impacts on their bodies and the ways in which that offers additional possibilities for existing beyond  the linear view of patriarchal productivity.

My hope is that each film can illuminate a part of life as informed by the menstrual cycle, in a way that several people (whether they menstruate or not) can relate to. 28 DAYS GREATER is not a prescription, or an effort to portray every aspect of menstruation as positive; rather it’s an artistic expression of the value of each aspect. Rage needs its space as much as quiet as much as confidence. If we listen to our bodies and the natural world around us and allow ourselves to move through it all, regularly- we might be healthier for it. For me, the 28 artworks feel aspirational. I’m trying to listen to my body and answer its calls more and more- but it doesn’t come easily as I’ve been trained not to listen for so many years. Each cycle thus becomes a conscious effort. But I now see this as an opportunity each month, rather than a drag."                                 

                                                                              -Carolyn Defrin