Daily Sitka Sentinel

Film to Offer Sitkans Look at Media Abuse

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

The role of social media in two high-profile sexual assault cases is front and center in a documentary that will be screened for the public Wednesday night in connection with Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

While the subject of “Audrie & Daisy” is a difficult one, Deb Corso, a member of the local Domestic Violence Task Force, said the film will be a valuable opportunity for learning, discussion and a live conversation with the filmmakers.

“Audrie & Daisy” will be shown 6 p.m. Wednesday at UAS, Room 229. It’s open to the public and free.

After the film, a question and answer session via Google Hangouts with documentarians Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk will be held.

“It’s a big opportunity to have a conversation about the changing technologies and how they fit in,” said Corso, a behavioral health and advocacy specialist on the UAS-Sitka campus. “Cyberbullying has become a big issue.”

The two girls in the film were sexually assaulted in 2012 in high schools in different states. One committed suicide, the other moved out of her community after she and the family were harassed.

“Both cases were exacerbated by the use of social media videos that were distributed by their peers,” Corso said. “While the assailants received minimal punishment for their roles, the families of both girls suffer tragedy and continuous harassment for years to follow.”

The film is intended to help audiences digest the complexities of the world teenagers live in today, said a description from the film’s website.

Corso said the film describes the ways social media magnified the girls’ victimization, as well as the impact on their families.

Corso is hoping the students who attend UAS, particularly the 70 percent who are distance students, will take advantage of the opportunity to meet the filmmakers through the Google Hangouts connection after the film. They can watch the film in advance online, and connect to the conversation from their homes.

“My objective was to be able to utilize new technologies to make the students feel that they are part of the UAS community,” she said.

The event is funded through a Title III grant, Compete to Complete, for the UAS Sitka campus. The grant covers services intended to remove barriers to education in particular for Alaska Native and other indigenous populations, single moms returning to school, veterans, former jail inmates – “more nontraditional students,” Corso said.

The documentary was an official selection for the Sundance film festival. 

Those attending the screening, both students and non-students, are invited to join in the discussion with Cohen and Shenk, which will start soon after the conclusion of the 93-minute film.

Corso said she hopes Sitkans take advantage of the opportunity to see the film as a community, and have a talk afterwards. She believes the show will provide a good platform for discussion for parents and their children.

“It’s an important film because it addresses some of the issues we see in Alaska,” she said. “Alaska’s high rates of suicide, high rates of sexual assault.”

Refreshments will be served at the event.