A young timid Pakistani American girl begins middle school wanting to go unnoticed, but with hairy legs she stands out, peers provoke her and panic ensues as she questions women’s beauty standards and what they mean to her.

My passion for storytelling evolved from listening to nightly bedtime stories to visualizing them with a camcorder and evolved as I studied video and TV production high school through university. Filmmaking means hearing people’s truth and new points of view. To be a writer/director/producer for all types of media.

My submission of “Fuzzy Legs”, the short film, connects to the theme of “CARE” through care for our families and ourselves. This film highlights the beauty standards around body hair enforced on girls at a young age, and how girls should care more about what they think of themselves, rather than caring about what others may say about them.

The main character, Amina, confides in her mother, Noorin, about being teased for her leg and body hair. Her mother does not understand her daughter’s concerns at first and then realizes later on how much these thoughts are impacting Amina. Noorin, while caring about how people will look at her daughter if she does decide to shave her legs, ends up giving her daughter advice that leaves the decision of what to do with her body hair up to her. Because in the end she just cares for her daughter’s happiness and wellbeing. Amina gains self confidence in her body and what choices she makes with them from the care of her mother and herself.

Flim Maker: Amber Eswani

I have made this film to show the care we should give to the girls and women to have confidence in their self image and empower them to feel good about themselves and the decisions they make; beginning with even the tiniest detail, like leg hair.