This Is Endometriosis is an ongoing volunteer-led movement created out of a desperate necessity for validation, representation and education of endometriosis.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 born with a uterus regardless of race or gender identity and can cause pain worse than the last stages of child labour. Endometriosis can take both quality of life and in some cases life itself, yet it is dangerously underfunded, under researched and misinformed.
With this work we want to show our realities and what we fight often behind closed doors. This is what it looks like, 190 million people worldwide have this disease, and we need to be seen. #thisisendometriosis
VALIDATION.
REPRESENTATION.
EDUCATION.
VALIDATION. REPRESENTATION. EDUCATION.
IT STARTED AS A PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECT
Whilst homebound with severe endometriosis and adenomyosis and enduring repeat surgeries, Georgie Wileman tried to find information and support online. All of the articles she found on endometriosis were accompanied by stock photography, usually an image of a women with her hair and makeup done, a slightly pained expression on her face whilst she held her stomach - as someone who was confined to a wheelchair and mistaken for terminally ill, this representation felt worlds away from what Georgie knew the reality of endometriosis could look like. Determined to correct the narrative in the media and beyond, Georgie began documenting her own lived experience in a series of self portraits, until she was well enough to include others with endometriosis in this groundbreaking photographic series. For the first time, articles in the media began being accompanied by images that actually represented the endometriosis community's reality, their fight and overwhelming strength.
COMMUNITY DRIVEN
In March of 2019 for Endometriosis Awareness Month Georgie launched a social media awareness campaign, calling on the community to replicate her most published photograph from the This Is Endometriosis series, an image of her stomach with her scars dated in pen with the years they were opened and reopened, connected with a line.
The campaign went viral, receiving thousands of submissions from across the world and gaining international press pick up, from the UK and across Europe to the USA and Middle East. As a community we united online and together demonstrated the many failures of our health care systems and how far we have to go in the treatment of endometriosis. #thisisendometriosis
SECOND SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
The This Is Endometriosis movement launched a second social media campaign in 2023, asking the community to record messages to their younger selves over a video of light on a wall; an image so many of us view day after day, pain preventing us from leaving bedrooms, couches, or hospital beds.
Submissions came in from across the world, with the same words and themes of pain, isolation, resilience and strength, repeated in different accents and languages. A beautiful collection of videos of sunlight on walls, as we voice our darkness to give light to others. #thisisendometriosisfilm
AS SEEN IN:
National Portrait Gallery, Bertha Dochouse, Scottish Documentary Institute, The Independent, Huffington Post, British Journal of Photography, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Elle, Refinery29 Creative Review, Der Speigel, L'Obs, Le Figaro, Bodyform & more!
THIS IS ENDOMETRIOSIS FILM
In 2020 as the world went into lock-down, Georgie put out a call for volunteers for the next stage of the movement. Our This Is Endometriosis Film team was formed as members of the endometriosis community and our allies across the world came together on Zoom.
The pandemic stretched on and Georgie’s endometriosis pain worsened yet again confining her back to a wheelchair, changing the direction and completion date of our film. But our team continued forward and in 2022 This Is Endometriosis the film premiered at Hot Docs Film Festival, and its journey began.
“Intimate, powerful, honest.”
“I felt seen.”
“Outstanding, brave, informative.”
SCREENINGS
SCREENINGS
Our documentary short film This Is Endometriosis has screened at HotDocs Film Festival, 11 Everyman cinemas across the UK in partnership with the film Below the Belt and Parla, Bertha Dochouse at Curzon, and the Scottish Documentary Institute.
This March 2024 we have screenings in Manhattan and London scheduled:
NYC Screening March 27 2024:
This Is Endometriosis will be screened for the first-time ever in NYC followed by a panel with expert excision surgeon Dr. Lora Liu, physical therapist Dr. Eliza Etter, and pelvic pain specialist Dr. Tayyaba Ahmed.
Link to secure a free ticket here!
Stay tuned for more announcements!
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOST A SCREENING?
Our film is free to watch on Minute Shorts. If interested in licensing our film and hosting a screening of your own, please reach out to thisisendoglobal@gmail.com for more info.