Screening of the doc Audrie & Daisy

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Audrie & Daisy is a heartbreaking documentary about the power taken from girls and the power they reclaim standing together.

Audrie & Daisy is an urgent, real-life drama that examines the ripple effects on families, friends, schools and communities when two underage young women find out their sexual assaults have been caught on camera. The film was produced and directed by Bonni Cohen, who has produced and directed an array of award-winning films, including The Island President and The Rape of Europa among many others.

Audrie & Daisy holds up a mirror to our culture, giving us the opportunity to glimpse it as an outsider might. This view is important because many teenagers think sexual harassment and violence is inevitable. In a study of teen survivors of sexual violence reported in 2014, the respondents said they didn’t report their abuse because they thought what happened was normal.

As part of the Netflix release, the film will be making a national community tour, and is available for free to any campus or community organization interested in convening a school or public screening. Fanshawe is all set for screening the movie on-campus to create awareness among the students about sexual violence.

Karthick Ananthan, a first-year student at Fanshawe, shared his opinion about the documentary being screened on campus.

“Creating awareness and educating students of the horrific rape culture in our society is essential, Audrie & Daisy is an excellent documentary; everyone should watch it,” he said. Ananthan also noted that change must come soon for the future of humanity.

Audrie & Daisy made its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, a festival which took a hard look at American’s teenagers who are coming of age in this new world of social media bullying, spun wildly out of control.

“The reason that we are screening the documentary is because it touches on some issues that we are also trying to raise awareness about and educate people,” Suzanne Book, senior manager of Counselling and Accessibility Services of the college revealed. “We also make sure this is an opportunity for discussion around stereotypes on sexual assault.”

Book also noted that the film explains the impact it has on survivors when we are mistakenly blaming victims for what’s happened and how it impacts the individuals and communities. This is also an opportunity to discuss how we might look at things differently. Book stated that the film also reflects how we can minimize sexual violence in society.

“November is Women Abuse Prevention Month and so the film is being screened in Fanshawe on Nov. 22 in room D1060 and is free,” Book said.

She stated that the film has its screening on other campuses too and it aims in creating awareness among youth about sexual assault.

In Book’s words, Audrie & Daisy is a sad movie and it triggers emotions in the people watching. The film also highlights the shame, survival and blame in which survivors have to endure.

“Various representatives from the Fanshawe Student Union, Leah Marshall (sexual violence prevention advisor), two or more folks from the department of counselling and the students will be present during the screening of the documentary,” Book said.