Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Thibault Candia Is Helping To Tackle Street Harassment
I believe it is important to emphasize that whatever your level, scale or influence within society, you can always find a way to make a positive impact on it. With goodwill and passion, you are capable to achieve most of the things that you currently think you are not capable of — even things you would have never imagined before.
There has been a global rise in social activism regarding raising awareness about sexual harassment. The topic is still at the centre of many heated debates and social movements. Thibault Candia, an ESCP Business School student, has produced and directed a short movie about street harassment, to try help keep this subject in the spotlight. As a management student, he managed to raise awareness with over 250 000 views thanks to shares from influencers that went viral. We sat down with him to find out more about the motivation for this project and what influenced him to draw attention to this matter.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit how you grew up?
I was born in Paris but my family and I moved to Nantes when I was two years old. I had a happy childhood, well surrounded by my family and friends. I started playing football at the age of five and I wouldn’t thought that this passion would lead me to leave my family home when I was 12 years to integrate a professional structure.
There, I started juggling between school and daily training. I signed a 3-year contract with the Stade Rennais FC (Ligue 1) at the age of 15, but it is when I turned 18 that I eventually signed my first professional contract with Angers SCO (Ligue 1). After two years in the professional world, I felt like I needed change, I was maybe not ready to maintain such a commitment yet and I wanted to finally live my youth to the fullest.
I eventually decided to leave for the US where I could both play football and study to get an American degree. I first moved to Philadelphia for six months, before spending three years in Santa Barbara, California. Then I got back to France last summer to join the ESCP’s Master’s in Management. I am currently living in Madrid, Spain.
Can you tell us a bit about what you are trying to change in our world today?
I created a short film about girls’ harassment in the street. This is because it is such an important topic all over the world. Good friends of mine have been harassed in the street and this made me realize I had to make something to raise awareness.
That’s why and when I decided to create the Short Film — to open some eyes and to talk about something we do not talk about enough. I wrote it, produced it and realized it. I had one cameraman and editor, 3 actors from a big cinema school in France, 20 extras, and one Director of Photography.
This kind of film has the purpose to raise awareness in order to prevent people forgetting about it. It is to claim, “maybe there’s nothing in the newspaper or on TV today, but this issue is still happening every day”. I am just trying, at my humble level, to raise awareness about gender equality and parity around the world.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
There is no one particular story, however, all of my close friends have been followed in the street at least once in their life. It is more the quantity of awful stories I had over these past years that made me want to talk about this cause.
When we talk about a problem like street harassment that girls experience, it’s usually too late. We tend to wait until we read about horrendous stories in the newspaper to realize that things like this are happening. Then three weeks later, we just forget about it and move on until the next terrible story.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up, and do it? What was that final trigger ?
It is quite difficult to be explicit and brief here, but I started writing when I was in California. I mainly wrote scripts about issues in society. Then I dabbled in writing fiction about love stories and other topics. When I left California, I had between 15 and 20 scripts. By then, I never had the time to do anything with them. I have been training every day since I was 12, so with training every morning and school the afternoon, it was tough to find the time to produce a movie.
It is only when I got back to France this summer that I was able to take a little break with football for a few months, so I could focus on deciding which one of my scripts I wanted to pick. Because they were talking a lot about street harassment in September in France with horrendous stories, I thought it was a good time to make Nos Ombres happen. This was the final trigger, the time I had for myself to step up.
Many young people don’t know the steps to take to start a new project. But you did. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?
To start with, I think you need more than just an idea. Firstly, you need to be passionate about what you are planning to do. More than just a commitment, you must care about it. And then, I truly believe you need to have a certain long-term vision about where you are heading with this idea. It is only when you find out where you are aiming to get, that you might want to plan your steps in between that will lead you to your final goal.
My long-term vision for this project was to raise awareness about a topic who matters to me, but not only. Indeed, I wanted it to last in time. Allowing people to watch this short film months or years later was key to get an impact on the long-term and leave a mark.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
I believe it is important to emphasize that whatever your level, scale or influence within society, you can always find a way to make a positive impact on it. With goodwill and passion, you are capable to achieve most of the things that you currently think you are not capable of — even things you would have never imagined before.
How can our readers follow you online?
I mainly use Instagram and my account is: thibaultcandia
To watch the short film: https://fofo.facebook.com/ESCPbs/videos/1653249261537640/
Thanks so much for your time! We wish you continued success!
