This Hits Home is a feature length documentary that reveals the invisible and silent epidemic of permanent traumatic brain injury in women devastated by domestic violence. The intimate and compelling stories of courageous women, insights from lawmakers and domestic violence authorities, and the shocking revelations from world renowned experts combine to paint a chilling portrait of brain injury that forever changes the lives of one in every four women and their children.
Christy Martin broke boundaries and noses as she rose in the boxing world, but her public persona belied personal demons, abuse and a threat on her life.
An effervescent facilitator and mother figure, Multicultural Liaison Officer Rosemary is undoubtedly a force of nature. Isolation in Auburn’s migrant community is a huge obstacle, and cultural norms mean that women are often tied to the house or a limited locale. Rosemary, with her larger-than-life spirit and generosity, works tirelessly to draw the women out of their homes and into society. She hosts a lively African Women’s Dinner Dance and takes them on a trip to the Blue Mountains and the NSW South Coast – introducing them to an Australia they’ve never seen before.
The four adult heroes and heroines of the film, who were selected in a casting call posted on TV, speak candidly on camera from the very beginning of their memories. Through individual stories, they describe their childhoods, family backgrounds, life at school, and how they spent their free time. The stories complement each other and are intertwined; we see emotions and hear things that reveal the horrific DNA of domestic violence. The documentary addresses the issue of abuse with an emphasis on the entire social environment of the victims and the societal underpinnings. Typical of domestic violence is that victims often hide it within themselves; they do not talk about it, and sometimes they do not even admit it. But in the documentary, they were determined to speak out.
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Abused By My Girlfriend tells the remarkable story of Alex Skeel, a 23-year-old man from Bedford who survived an abusive relationship with his girlfriend Jordan Worth
The lives of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar and Lorraine, one of her daughters, and the community of Bradford, in the 30 years since the 18-year-old Andrea penned a play about growing up in the community titled "The Arbor".
Since the beginning of her career, Sinéad O’Connor has used her powerful voice to challenge the narratives she was surrounded by while growing up in predominantly Roman Catholic Ireland. Despite her agency, depth and perspective, O’Connor’s unflinching refusal to conform means that she has often been patronized and unfairly dismissed as an attention-seeking pop star.
Following a series of intimate conversations between a former couple who lived through two years of domestic abuse, A Better Man infuses new energy and possibility into the movement to end violence against women.
Every day, Australian Damien Rider is haunted by his abusive childhood. Determined to find his peace, and ensure it happens to no other child, Damien sets upon an 800km solo paddle from his home in Coolangatta to Bondi Beach.
AND SO I STAYED is an award-winning documentary about survivors of abuse fighting for their lives and spending years behind bars. These women paid a steep price with long prison sentences, lost time with loved ones, and painful memories. Formerly incarcerated survivor-advocate Kim Dadou Brown, who met her wife while incarcerated, is a driving force in the passage of New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA), a new law meant to prevent survivors from receiving harsh prison sentences for their acts of survival. Nikki Addimando, a mother of two young children, suffered the consequences when a judge didn’t follow the law’s guidelines. Tanisha Davis, a single mother who was ripped away from her son in 2013, is hopeful the new law is her way out of a harsh prison sentence.
Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.
Their job is stealing, their lives a cruel dead end. Director Jon Alpert takes his cameras undercover for this hard-hitting look at men who live by theft and suffer addiction. Focusing on a year in the lives of three professional criminals, this gritty profile—which includes hidden-camera footage of actual thefts—exposes the "petty" crimes that are paralyzing America.
A series of lawsuits and allegations have legendary rap mogul P. Diddy on the ropes. TMZ has the troubling inside story from people who were there.
"Women On Trail" exposes the innate corruption and sexism in the family court system as children are removed from their mothers and given to fathers who often either don't want them or have been convicted of domestic violence.
Stacey Dooley goes behind closed doors and speaks to the now younger face of domestic violence. She questions victims and abusers to try and understand how deep the issues surrounding domestic abuse are for those who have survived and those currently experiencing the abuse.
Abandoned by her family, Kya raises herself all alone in the marshes outside of her small town. When her former boyfriend is found dead, Kya is instantly branded by the local townspeople and law enforcement as the prime suspect for his murder.
Mina, a battered daughter, has left home to separate herself from her father's constant abuse and pain. As she scoured the streets of Manila, where she met Denise, a free-spirited girl who introduced Mina to the reality of what reality meant.
A look at the normalization of violence through footage depicting scenes that are representative of the subject matter, while a typical story of abuse unfolds, this one can only have an disturbing ending.