by Lisa Nystrom
Worth: $13.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Donna Lyon, Billie Kolbeck
Intro:
… insightful and deeply personal …
Senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Dr. Donna Lyon, has gathered the stories of sexual assault survivors – a compilation which includes her own experiences – and transformed the horror and helplessness of those memories into a powerful documentary.
A confronting insight into the healing journey of eight individuals, all survivors of childhood sexual abuse, the film highlights their voices, providing a platform to speak, where before so many survivors have moved through life feeling powerless and unheard.
The goal for Lyon and director Shannon Owen, was to create a safe space for their subjects to unleash their anger and to help carry some of the weight of their trauma, both physically and emotionally. They offered an 8-week healing journey that combined boxing and creative writing, which culminated in strong bonds of friendship and a solid support system, and, in the publication of the stories as written during their journaling sessions.
The documentary chronicles the development of those stories, as the participants learn to open up and share in an environment that neither judges them nor asks them to tone down their pain, so as not to overwhelm the listener. There is no comparison or competitiveness for who has the deepest trauma here, only women and non-binary survivors supporting one another through their pain and holding one another up as they fight back against their own anger and shame.
It’s an intimate sharing of experiences, shedding light on issues like sexual violence, body image, and the impact CSA has on everyday life. There’s a juxtaposition between the survivors speaking candidly to one another about their history, contrasting with the final presentation of their creative pieces, now precisely worded and edited for a wider audience. Though delivered through a lens of poetry and performance, the stories themselves retain a raw vulnerability, emotionally charged while putting the speaker in a position of power and control of the narrative, something they were never given when it mattered most.
Left Write Hook is an insightful and deeply personal piece that touched the hearts of viewers during its screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, where it received the Intrepid Audience Award alongside Krunal Padhiar and Semara Jose’s documentary Voice as the audience’s favourite title from the festival.
