Grounds is the story of lovers, over the course of the night we follow a group of young adults who’s decisions have unforeseen consequences, emotions run high. An unusual portrayal of he said/ she said, does consent have to be verbal?

Director’s Vision

What is consent? Does it exist only in absolute yes and no or are there shades of grey? The reason I decided to write Grounds was partly inspired by a frank and honest book called 100 women I know, which is a collection of accounted stories related to rape and sexual assault. I wanted to make a film that is ambiguous, and relatable. A story which explores the layers of questions surrounding the topic of consent that have never been answered! I didn’t want this film to be a black and white scenario, because when you view consent as that, you become numb to the truth, that it’s not always bad people who take advantage of someone. It’s not some evil villain that you can’t relate to, I desperately want people to think back at situations they’ve been involved in, think about it, did you ask for consent, did they consent? Society has led us to all believe what is “normal” behaviour in a variety of scenarios in life and what is expected of us especially in sexual situations. How do we draw the line at what is okay and what isn’t? I believe we need to open this discussion further until it is normal for people to have a conversation on consent.