This premier screening is free, but registration is required in order to receive a link to the film and to the discussion with the filmmaker.
Abbey is a college freshman with hopes of starting a life away from home, traveling the world, and falling in love. Within the first few months of being on campus, she’s sexually assaulted by a peer. Without a legal team or advocate behind her, Abbey’s opportunity to be a curious student feels lost. She carries a lot of shame and fears coming forward with her story. Abbey withdraws and her roommate, Laurie, doesn’t understand Abbey’s new behaviors. Eventually, Laurie encourages Abbey to report to the police. With the daunting process of going to court looming, if her case makes it, and the skeptical reception of her story by the police, Abbey turns to her campus’s Title IX reporting process instead.
From the clouded motivations of school administrators to the pressures of friendship and family, Abbey’s journey through the Title IX process reveals the barriers faced by survivors of assault. Not only is it rare that a survivor comes forward with their story, it can be traumatic. Told from multiple points of view, each voice pieces together not just what happened on the night of Abbey’s assault, but how the campus community comes to understand themselves in the knowledge of this, or resists responsibility. USA, 2020, 50 minutes.
TRIGGER WARNING: This film may bring back unwanted emotions and memories for those who have had similar experiences.
Some of THE UNIVERSITY was previously released as an episodic web series, but this pilot cut of THE UNIVERSITY includes previously unseen footage and a never released ending.
TICKETS: This premier screening is free, but registration is necessary in order to receive links to the film and to the discussion with the filmmaker on June 11.
MEET THE FILMMAKER: Juliana Roth, a Rockland County based filmmaker, will take part in an online discussion on June 11 at 7:30 PM, with Rowan Reyes, Senior Director of Community Education and Social Change. Please register to receive links to the film and the discussion. Links for the discussion will be sent on June 9.
READ: Nyack News & Views published a discussion between filmmaker Juliana Roth and Annarosa Mudd, whose story inspired the film that THE UNIVERSITY was paired with (both presented with Center for Safety and Change). Read Sexual Violence & Its Aftermath, here.
Community Partner: Center of Safety and Change
“What fascinated me [about the story] and Roth’s writing is that she explores all the facets of the people involved: the assaulted, the abuser, the teachers, the friends, and the parents. She humanizes their stories in a way that is real and visually stunning.” – Cinema Femme