It Was A Woman: Surviving Female Sexual Abuse Premieres on APTN Thurs Jan 9

Montreal (December 16, 2013) –

It Was A Woman: Surviving Female Sexual Abuse is a first person documentary about the journey of Blackfoot director Cherri Low Horn as she tries to make sense of her own experience of being sexually molested by a woman as a child. The film, produced by Montreal Aboriginal film company Mushkeg Productions Inc. in association with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, premieres Thursday, January 9 at 7 PM EST on APTN (check local listings).

Little research exists on female sexual offenders, and rarely is it talked about. “When I started talking to professionals and other victims, I realized that I was among many people staggering in the dark. I was trying to figure out what happened to me, and there was no one out there with a compass to guide me,” says director Cherri Low Horn.

There aren’t many experts and even the experts agree that there is a lot to learn about this type of sex offense. In It Was A Woman, Cherri sets off to talk to some of these experts like Dr. Franca Cortoni of the Université de Montreal and Rick Goodwin of The Men’s Project in Ottawa to make sense of the myths and misconceptions surrounding female sex offenders.

At first, Cherri had a hard time comprehending her own childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a woman. Who ever heard of such a thing? And she suffered from the same misconception as many of us, that sex abuse victims are doomed to become perpetrators themselves. That’s not true.

With this documentary, Cherri bypasses shame and denial to take us on her personal journey from myth and confusion to knowledge and a happy ending. “I realized that being a victim of a female sexual perpetrator does not sentence me to a life of pain and misery. I can get past this and be happy with myself as a person,” says Cherri.

The documentary takes an original approach to the story, combining live footage with graphics and drawings, and the director’s unique sense of humour. Cherri, a trained artist, uses her artwork to help illustrate the emotional experience of the story as she lived it, as well as her understanding of the information she obtains on the subject. “Female sexual perpetration is a very big topic. It is a very heavy topic. By using the artwork, it helps bring it down a bit, sort of make it less threatening, less intimidating and just help viewers, especially people who have been through it, not be traumatized as much or triggered as much,” says Cherri.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Cherri Low Horn is a trained artist and an emerging Blackfoot filmmaker from Calgary, Alberta. She graduated from the University of Calgary with a B.A. in Communication and Culture, and a minor in psychology. She worked at the Awo Taan Healing Lodge as a child support counselor for 2 years and has also worked with Aboriginal children and youth for both on and off reserve social programs. Cherri studied studio art at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. This is her directorial debut.

ABOUT MUSHKEG PRODUCTIONS INC

Mushkeg Media Inc. is a 12-year-old Aboriginal production company, in Montreal, specializing in films and videos about the Native experience, films that deal with contemporary issues facing Canada’s First Nations, their environment, activities, traditions and their struggle for economic and political autonomy. The company is headed by Paul M. Rickard, independent Cree filmmaker and cameraman. Veteran producer and director George Hargrave is Paul’s partner and frequent collaborator.

ABOUT APTN
 
September 1, 2013, will mark the 14-year anniversary of the launch of the first national Aboriginal television network in the world with programming by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples to share with all Canadians and viewers around the world. APTN is available in approximately 10 million Canadian households and commercial establishments with cable, direct-to-home satellite, telco-delivered and fixed wireless television service providers. The network launched its high definition channel, APTN HD, in the spring of 2008. APTN does not receive government funding for operations but generates revenue through subscriber fees, advertising sales and strategic partnerships. APTN broadcasts programming with 56% offered in English, 16% in French and 28% in Aboriginal languages. For program schedule or for more information, please contact APTN at (204) 947-9331 or toll-free at 1-888-278-8862, or visit the website at www.aptn.ca

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Like: It Was a Woman facebook.com/itwasawoman
Follow: @itwasawoman

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mushkeg Productions Inc., 514-279-3507,
media@mushkeg.ca

PRESS MATERIALS:
View The Trailer (2:42 min.) – PASSWORD: mushkeg
News Article
One Sheet
High Resolution Images