Kellie Galentine
Online Editor
“The Hunting Ground,” directed by Kirby Dick, is a documentary that opens with videos of high school seniors excitedly opening their acceptance letters to universities. Screams and shouts of joy are soon paired with videos of move-in days and administrative speeches at convocation ceremonies.
The irony of listening to administrators discuss their institution’s dedication to student learning is made clear when Annie Clark and Andrea Pino share their traumatizing experiences with sexual assault.
Both alumnae of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Clark and Pino are the leading voices in the film as it follows their journey as survivors who challenge their university’s mishandling of sexual assault cases.
The women came together to file a Title IX complaint against their university when their rapes were pushed aside as unimportant and they were victim-blamed by administrators they thought they could trust.
Throughout the film, Clark and Pino are shown advocating for sexual assault survivors on their campus and campuses throughout the nation, and helping other survivors rally to file Title IX complaints.
More than a dozen survivors give accounts of their stories in the film, putting faces to the crime of sexual assault on college campuses.
Since Pino and Clark’s filing at UNC, more than 95 schools have been added to the Department of Education’s list of institutions under investigation for Title IX complaints.
The film is woven together depicting the college experience from start to finish, displaying the hypocrisy of the system the entire way, using shocking statistics including low numbers of expelled perpetrators.
“The Hunting Ground” sheds light on sexual assault through poignant tales paired with irony that leaves an impact that will keep viewers thinking about the injustices for victims of sexual assault long after the final credits.
Kellie Galentine can be reached at kellie.galentine@laverne.edu or on Twitter @kellie_gal
