IT HAPPENED HERE is a compelling new documentary from award-winning director Lisa F. Jackson (The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo) and producer Marjorie Schwartz Nielsen that explores sexual assault on campuses through the personal testimonials of five survivors who transform their experiences into a springboard for change. The film debuted on Pivot TV January 21, 2015 and has screened on college campuses as a part of the It’s On Us campaign launched by President Obama and the White House.
In raw and intimate interviews, the students describe surviving sexual assault only to be met with apathy, disbelief, blame and retaliation from authorities when they tried to report the crime. When they tried to get justice, they were ignored, belittled and shamed, while their attackers remained on campus with impunity. But instead of hiding away in shame, they chose to speak out, and found a way to force institutional change.
Synopsis: IT HAPPENED HERE is a feature-length documentary about the alarming pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses, the impact on the student, her family and the institution, and the burgeoning movement of student survivors coming forth and taking action against their schools on campus and in federal court.
Through the personal portraits of five students at three schools, testimonials from college administrators, educators, mental health experts and legal scholars, IT HAPPENED HERE breaks the silence surrounding campus sexual violence and asks: Why is this happening? What are schools doing about it? What is “rape culture” and what can we do to prevent campus assault?