BREAK THE SILENCE
REPRODUCTIVE & SEXUAL HEALTH STORIES
a documentary by willow o'feral
Official Selection
MENDOCINO
FILM FESTIVAL
2018
Official Selection
GREEN MOUNTAIN
FILM FESTIVAL
2018
Official Selection
MIDDLEBURY
NEW FILMMAKERS
FESTIVAL
2018
SYNOPSIS
Break the Silence features raw, powerful interviews with 18 diverse cisgender and transgender women about their sexual & reproductive health histories. Women from a variety of racial and ethnic, age, sexual orientation, and class backgrounds candidly recount their histories with sexual education, early sexual experiences, abortion, birth control, masturbation, relationships, gender transition, menstruation, STIs, gynecological exams, sexual assault, pregnancy, pleasure, and much more.
Challenging social taboo with unflinching candor, vulnerability, and often great humor, Break the Silence catalyzes vitally important conversations around sexual education, health, autonomy, pleasure, and human rights.
FILMMAKER
WILLOW O’FERAL is the producer, director, and cinematographer of feature documentaries Sisters Rising and Break the Silence. She is a proud member of New Day Films, the longest running distribution cooperative for independent documentary filmmakers in the US. She is also a member of the Film Fatales, was a Fledgling Fellow at the 2018 DX Investigative Film Festival in Washington DC, and was honored with a Choice Champion Award by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for her work in creating the documentary Break the Silence, which also won Best Documentary Feature at La Frontera Queer Film Festival. Her 2020 documentary Sisters Rising, about Native American women restoring personal and tribal sovereignty in the face of ongoing sexual & colonial violence against Indigenous women in the US, has garnered numerous recognitions including Best Film Award from Women's Voices Now Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at the American Indian Film Festival, the Thaddeus Stevens Award at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, and a Silver Telly Award for Social Impact. Sisters Rising is distributed by Women Make Movies and nationally broadcast on PBS America ReFramed. Willow is from Northern California and now lives in Vermont.
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
10/09/22
6PM, Sunday, Oct 09, 2022
Venue: Latchis Theater, Brattleboro VT
PAST SCREENINGS
11-18-19 UVM, Burlington, VT
04-19-19 Bennington College, VT
11-29-18 [FRAMED] SERIES, Next Stage, Putney, VT
11-15-18 TOWN HALL, Middlebury, VT
11-08-18 MARLBORO COLLEGE, Marlboro, VT
8-31-18 MACHINA ARTS/5 at the Hive, Keene NH
8-26-18 MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL, VT
6-3-18 MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL, Mendocino CA
5-9-18 One Mountain/Many Paths Workshop, Stowe VT
4-29-18 Manchester Library, Manchester VT
3-25-18 GREEN MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL, Montpelier VT
3-6-18 Mendocino Community High School, Mendocino CA
2-24-18 Oddfellows Hall, Mendocino CA
10-29-17 Latchis Theatre, Brattleboro VT
REVIEWS
"This documentary should be seen and digested by anyone with a pulse."
Donna Macomber,
Women's Freedom Center
