Sands Of Silence: Waves Of Courage

A documentary film Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage is a source of courage to women to stand and speak against sexual violence.
A documentary film Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage, is a voice of women who survived sexual violence. They spoke their heart out for the first time in their lives about the harsh realities of their lives. Chelo, one of the survivors, eight years back, had started to make a documentary film that would comprise of the true stories of women who suffered sexual violence and exploitation. The film is a platform that gave strength to victims to stand united. The film has been completed now.
The film gives a simple message that it’s time to put an end to shame that encircles the victims of sexual violence, for we need to step into light from shadows.
One of the stories shared in the film is of Virginia along with her daughter Lala. She was subjected to sexual violence by her family and clergy members. She was abducted into a Mexican trafficking ring, when she was breast feeding her
six-month-old girl Lala. In order to get free, Virginie crossed the border of U.S. After struggle of ten years she succeeded to rebuild her life, then she appeared as an advocate against gender exploitation. She became the woman who crashed the chain of sexual violence that she had remained victim of.
Her daughter Lala was assaulted by a pedophile, at the age of 11. Lala did not remain silent about the matter, as she had been observing her mother conversing about her abuse. Lala’s timely action sent the culprit into jail. In this documentary, Lala is the only child whose trafficking was known and who spoke about the violence she had confronted in childhood. Virginia and Lala inspired Chelo, and she also broke the silence and shared the truth about abuse in her life and her family.
A documentary film Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage is a source of courage to women to stand and speak against sexual violence.
The documentary shows the survivors struggling against their fears to share their grim past. The film comprises of characters, talking about different types of abuse like pedophilia, trafficking, domestic as well as religious abuse. Chelo’s sister who, off camera, starts the film, declined to speak about what happened to Chelo and her on the beach, when both were just children. In the film, Chelo’s sister tries to curtail the details about her experience, while Chelo stimulates her to speak more. The verite style talks, stimulated others to pour their hearts out and talk about their experiences. In the film, Chelo herself reveals the hideous truth of her life. When Chelo tells Viginia that her sufferance was less in comparison to Virginia, then she replied that “The level of abuse goes beyond the physical pain. It is so much
deeper.”
In the documentary film Sands of Silence women subdued the feeling of ignominy and talked about their experiences. So the victims and survivors of any type of abuse are imparted with valor to step against that violence, by the film.
A campaign was launched in January to raise funds for the film on Beacon, a journalism crowdfunding site. The campaign will end on 3rd March. It will help to make the film reach across the country.