Home #WeAreAllMaple [Official Music Video]
Home #WeAreAllMaple – A-SLAM F. Seven Taviss
Directed by Gary Chatha
MAPLE BATALIA (MAR 04 1992 – SEPT 28 2011)
Born near Mumbai, 19-year-old Maple Batalia was an aspiring actress and was attending Simon Fraser University in hopes of becoming a doctor, when she was stabbed, shot and killed by her ex boyfriend as she walked to her car in the parkade at SFU Surrey Campus. She had previously graduated from Enver Creek Secondary and was aspiring to become a doctor.
Her father (Harkirat Batalia) chose her name Maple because he fell in love with the maple leaf. When his daughter was born, he and his wife, Sarbjit, named her ‘Maple.’
Maple had just been named a finalist in the Central City Model Search, and was to attend auditions in Alberta, at the time of her demise.
About The Song
Rose Batalia, Maple’s Sister, was involved in promoting events when I was DJing in 2011. When Maple was killed, she had asked me to write a song about Maple, but I was never able too. I didn’t know the story enough, nor did I understand at that point how widespread the problem of “Toxic Masculinity” really was.
In 2018, director Jasleen Kaur, worked with Maple’s friends and family to produce “Maple: a documentary” that not only shed more light on the details of Maple’s case, but discussed the overarching themes that let a crime like this take place.
After watching the documentary I was able to get a full picture of Maple’s story. Over the next month, I began working on this song, reaching out to Rose to overlook the lyrics and subjects.
The song “Home” uses the details of Maple’s story, to talk about the larger issues of toxic masculinity and violence against women. The song also pulls information from Vancouver’s Battered Women’s Support Services, who I was able to work with on a previous video, as well as Leslie Morgan Steiner’s Ted Talk, “Why domestic violence victims don’t leave.”
About The Video
Thank you to director Gary Chatta and his team at Diaspora Creative for their amazing work on this project. With his beautifully written screenplay, Gary and his team were able to take the song and Maple’s story and create a piece that is true to the story and also visually breathtaking.
Last, I want to say a huge thank you to Rose, Maple’s sister, who was integral in bringing this project together and stayed so strong through the process. For a full list of credits check out the video details on my Instagram post: Home Instagram Post
‘Home’ was supported by Creative BC and the City Of Vancouver.
Thank you for taking the time to watch, listen and share.
Our voice is our strength,
Much Luv
A-SLAM
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