Tell us a bit about your organization and what your specialty is in the film and video space.

Ant Films Production is a Toronto-based media and production company specializing in socially driven storytelling and multimedia creative content from documentaries, music videos, branding, event coverage, photoshoots, and more that pushes artistic boundaries, always with a strong visual and narrative identity.

My specialty is producing, directing and blending journalism and film production with creative storytelling, from field production to post. I produce visual narratives that confront and raise awareness of pressing social issues with storytelling across diverse locations, including Canada, the USA, Brazil, Thailand, and beyond.

I’m deeply committed to advocacy and social impact, with a particular focus on child abuse prevention, awareness and humanitarian causes. I focus on leveraging my platforms to inspire meaningful change and break taboos, using my voice to shed light on important conversations.

What is your organization’s ethos and how does it set you apart from industry competitors?

Our ethos is rooted in purpose-driven results. We believe content and storytelling can be catalysts for change, whether they uncover systemic issues, amplify marginalized voices, or celebrate resilience and creativity.

What sets us apart from industry competitors is our approach to projects with both factual accuracy and creative visuals, ensuring the final work is not only truthful but also visually and emotionally compelling. We bridge storytelling, journalism and artistic visuals, allowing us to adapt across platforms while staying true to authenticity and powerful content.

By collaborating with nonprofits, brands, broadcasters, and communities, we prioritize impact and inclusivity over pure commercial gain, crafting content that sparks dialogue, inspires empathy, inclusion, and diversity and drives meaningful engagement.

How can people join or learn more about what you do?

https://lnk.bio/rafaelagalindo
@antfilmsproduction
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/productionlife

Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?

As someone who experienced sexual abuse by my father and was silenced by my own mother to “avoid scandals” since my parents were spiritual leaders, I wrote Unmasking the Pain to explore the sense of loss and grief I carried while my mother was still alive. This short story is an artistic reflection on the impact of silence within families, where shame and avoidance often weigh more than taking action to address this very common issue.

I once had a conversation with someone who shared how deeply the absence of parental presence shaped his life, and thinking about the grief we feel when our loved ones fail to protect or support us in critical moments like abuse, I had to create something to tackle that reality, so I created a project that could help spark conversations, spread awareness and inspire change in that cycle.

Unmasking the Pain highlights abuse, but at its core, it is about silence, the codependence of mothers with abusive partners, despite being the abusers of their own daughters. When the victim is silenced, everyone involved becomes complicit in the abuse. That is where I wanted to spark a conversation, to help shift this reality.

The project mentions different cases of abuse, and even then, it represents only a fraction of how many people, regardless of gender, have experienced it at the hands of fathers, uncles, mothers, or others. Many people believe abuse happens out on the streets, but too often it happens inside homes with a person you would not expect. And if that has not been your experience, then it is truly a privilege to have a loving and caring family.

What are you most proud of about this piece? What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?

What I’m most proud of with Unmasking the Pain is being able to put together a piece about something so hard to talk about, which is grieving. The story is an artistic representation of abuse in family settings, but it was difficult because the grieving I felt while my mother was alive is very different from the grieving I feel now after her passing. Before, it felt like losing her while she was still alive. Now, it’s the pain of knowing she is gone, and with her, the hope that our relationship could ever change. That’s a very complex feeling, and I know many people can relate to it, even if abuse has not been part of their story.

For me, this piece is a scream to remind people that if you can do something to support or repair a relationship with your loved ones, the time is now. We can’t go back to the past, but we can choose to do things differently today. People often think parenthood always means love and protection, and while that’s how it should be, the truth is many fathers and mothers are absent, and many sons and daughters could also do better; that’s a broader perspective beyond the abuse topic.

This project is about breaking the silence around abuse, but it’s also a call for families to wake up and value each other before it’s too late. In my case, my mom died with no resolution, and that was her choice, as I know she would not have done anything differently. But what’s wrong should not be silenced, and victims of abuse should not have to lose their voices because of a family’s shame in addressing the issue.

The biggest challenge in production was the sensitivity of the subject. I had to rewrite the script a few times just to move forward. We were originally going to have two dancers, an older and a younger version of myself, but I had to let that idea go because including the younger dancer would have meant leaving out key elements of the story. In the end, everything worked out as it was meant to.

It was also very hard to find actors, especially someone to play the abuser, and even harder to involve a child, even though we filmed them separately. That’s why I’m so grateful to the two actors who played the parents, and especially to the little girl who played the child.

Do you have any advice to other filmmakers based on your career or your team’s approach to work?

Transparency is key to everything. Being creative is important, but even more important is making sure everyone involved feels comfortable being part of the project. We can’t please everyone, but we can be respectful and trust that there will always be someone who understands our intention and supports us without compromising our vision.

Challenges don’t end after production. Distribution companies and others in the industry can be skeptical about tackling difficult subjects. You might think child abuse is a universal issue everyone opposes, but there is still a huge taboo around it. Any production can have challenges, but if there’s resistance to talking about something, that’s a signal that it’s exactly what needs to be addressed. All the “no’s,” rejections, and setbacks shouldn’t be discouragement; they should be fuel to keep going.

Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?

A fun fact about Unmasking the Pain is that it was actually the first time I ever wrote lyrics to a song and released it. I’m not a musician; I’m a filmmaker, storyteller, and journalist, so at first I thought I had written a poem and was going to create a video around it. But then I realized it was a song, so I used AI to create a demo, and then I reached out to Marcelo Ovidio, who became the music producer and composer, and before I knew it, we had seven other musicians involved, including an incredible singer who gave voice to the piece.

Musician Team Credits:
Lyricist: Rafaela Galindo @rafaelagrg1
Singer: Andrea Mendez @rachelandreamusic
Music Producer, Composer & Drummer: Marcelo Ovídio @marcellloog
Cellist: Beth Silver @bethleora
Guitarist: Rob Tardik @robtardik
Keyboardist: Stefan Carriman @Stefan Carriman
Violinist: Emi Kapcsos
Bassist: Curtis Freeman @curtisfreemanbass
Mix & Mastering Engineer: Thiago Lima Diatroptoff @thiagolimadi2

For the visuals, I wanted something truly impactful. Thanks to Ontario Camera, who supported us with equipment and lighting, I was able to bring my vision to life and produce and direct the project the way I imagined it.

Also, the little actress was a 10-year-old Brazilian girl, just like I was at that age. When I saw her on set, I felt very emotional. She looked so much like me as a child that if you placed our photos side by side, we could have been sisters, or even the same person. That connection, along with her cultural background, made the story even more powerful to me. It was around that age when things started to get worse in my own home.

Production Team Credits:
🎥 A Film Production by Ant Films @antfilmsproduction
🎥 Sponsorship: Ontario Camera @ontariocamera

Production Crew:
Executive Producer, Director, Producer – Rafaela Galindo @rafaelagrg1
Assistant Director: Charlotte Theraud @happy_chachat
Director of Photography: Gui Morilha @guimorilha
Assistant Camera: Sohil Chhabra @sohil_chhabra
Assistant Camera: Iman Yazdi @imanx202
Gaffer: Santiago Moreno @cine.santi
Grip: Brianna Chary @brianna.4753
1st Production Assistant: Erik Shaden
2nd Production Assistant: Gurbir Bhangu
Behind the Scenes: Glen Grant & Sevgi Mungan
Video Editors: Rafaela G, Ann Foo & Anderson Silva
Visual Effects Artist: Enerson da Silva @misterener
Colorist: Daniela Rodriguez @danielajroma

Dancer: Sofia Ontiveros @sofatamaraca

Actors:
Father: José Batista @jbsalesf
Mother: Aundreya Thompson @aundreyat
Kid: Gigi Sousa

Tell us about the most memorable response you got from this work.

The most memorable response came first from our own crew. They shared how magical the production felt, and that meant a lot because we managed to create a light and playful environment in the studio, even while working on such a sensitive and complex story.

Beyond that, I received feedback and messages from people who had been through abuse, saying how brilliant, heart-opening, tragic, and beautiful the project was, and thanking me for putting my energy into such important work. One person told me, “Your creativity can speak where words fail,” which really stayed with me. I also heard from psychologists, educators, and others who wanted to use the project to spark conversations, and honestly, there is no higher reward than that.

As long as that can keep sparking conversations and help change something, even if it’s a tiny change in actions, on the justice system or mental health awareness, I’m grateful for any positive outcome.

Receiving a Social Impact award by the Telly Awards was truly special.

Complete this sentence: ‘Great video storytelling is…’

… giving voice to what often goes unspoken, creating space for conversations and emotions that words alone cannot fully capture.