Filmmaker/Advocate Grace Poore's "Voices Heard Sisters Unseen" and "The Children We Sacrifice" to be Screened at Barnard College, Wednesday, November 20, 2002

New York, NY, October 29, 2002—Video producer, director and women's rights advocate Grace Poore's award-winning documentaries, "Voices Heard Sisters Unseen" and "The Children We Sacrifice," will be screened at Barnard on Wednesday, November 20, 2002, at 8 p.m. in the Julius Held Auditorium, 304 Barnard Hall.

Through narrative, music, poetry and art, Poore's videos tell the stories of female survivors of domestic violence, incest and other forms of sexual abuse. "Voices Heard Sisters Unseen" is described as a "political documentary with an art feel." By challenging conventional views of the "battered woman" profile, Poore explores in her 76-minute video the perspectives of battered women in the United States who are often overlooked because they are deaf, sex workers, undocumented, lesbians, have disabilities, or live with HIV/AIDS.

Poore's documentary distinguishes itself from others on domestic violence in that her own voice as producer acts as the authority in her film rather than her relying on the "outsider as expert". The survivors of abuse Poore interviews also conduct their own feminist analyses about domestic violence. "Voices Heard Sisters Unseen" won the Bettina Russell award in Canada for social issue documentary, and was screened at the 1995 Fourth NGO Forum For Women in China.

The second film, "The Children We Sacrifice", explores the universal crime of incestuous sexual abuse in the South Asian community. This 61-minute documentary shot in India, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United States combines interviews, statistics, paintings, music and poetry of incest survivors from childhood through adulthood. The video is described as a "moving validation of women who confront different levels of shaming and secrecy around a deeply camouflaged issue."

"The Children We Sacrifice" confronts difficult questions about the role of mothers as primary interventionists, about the home as a source of refuge, comfort, betrayal and violation, and about the "culture of silence" surrounding issues of incest in the South Asian community. Ultimately, the video celebrates the survivors who defy social pressures in the pursuit of justice for victims. The film was featured in the International Women's Film Festival in Korea, the Panchgani Human Rights Film Festival in India, the United Nations Women's Film Festival in New York City, and the Color of Violence Film Festival in Santa Cruz.

Grace Poore's firsthand experience of growing up in a violent home drives the focus of her documentaries and the passion for her work as an activist who produces and uses videos to advocate for an end to violence against women and girls. Poore has been giving workshops and interactive seminars to campus and community groups internationally for nearly ten years. Her work has looked at the intersections between domestic violence, child sexual abuse and other oppressions, and how mainstreaming the movement to stop domestic violence and incestuous sexual assault continues to marginalize women who defy the conventional understanding of "survivor."

A South Asian of dual Tamil heritage born and raised in Malaysia, Poore has lived in the United States for over 20 years and has published in various journals and anthologies. She has worked for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women in Sri Lanka as well as the U.S.-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Her films are widely used by child advocates, women's rights groups, battered women's groups, mental health agencies and other anti-violence organizations across the globe.

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7907