After surviving a life-threatening sexual assault and being dismissed by the legal system, college student Madison Smith and her tight-knit Kansas family take on the local prosecutor to fight for justice and systemic change.

US | 2023 | 61 minutes | English | Order No. W231307 |

SYNOPSIS

Set against the backdrop of the fifth-year anniversary of the #MeToo movement, this intimate, personal film follows a sexual assault survivor and her tight-knit family as they fight for justice and systemic change. LOUD ENOUGH - SURVIVING JUSTICE, from the Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning producers of A WALK TO BEAUTIFUL, SEA CHANGE, and MISSING IN BROOKS COUNTY (EPs) and directed by Hilary Klotz Steinman, reveals the Herculean effort still required for a survivor of sexual violence and their loved ones to hold an attacker and the U.S. judicial system accountable.

After surviving a life-threatening sexual assault in her hometown of Lindsborg, Kansas, college freshman Madison Smith and her parents were stunned when the local county prosecutor declined to file charges against the rapist, despite a strong case and compelling physical evidence. Traumatized by both the assault itself and her treatment by the police and prosecutor, Madison never wavered from the conviction that her attacker must be held accountable. She and her family refused to let the criminal justice system deny the facts and ignore her case, or to give up their quest for legal consequences. LOUD ENOUGH - SURVIVING JUSTICE chronicles the poignant journey of an ordinary family confronting a system biased against them, undergoing personal transformation, and embarking on a new mission as activists fighting for lasting change. Through their emotional wins and crushing defeats, this compelling story demonstrates the power of love, tenacity, and community to survive, and explores concrete ways in which the criminal justice system in America can and must change.

CREDITS
Producers: Heidi Reavis, Steven M. Engel, and Hilary Klotz Steinman
Director: Hilary Klotz Steinman
Editor: Penelope Falk
Music by Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggerio
Director of Photography: Sam Shinn

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Hilary Klotz Steinman

Hilary Klotz Steinman is an Emmy Award-winning documentary film producer and director with over twenty years of experience producing vérité, historical, and investigative documentary films. Her work has been featured on PBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, and Al Jazeera. Her recent projects include The Codebreaker for the PBS series American Experience, Death by Design, Children of the Inquisition, Going Blind, Test Tube Babies, and the Emmy-winning The Pill. (10/23)

Heidi Reavis

Heidi's legal career started in the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit of the Manhattan DA’s Office. She founded Reavis Page Jump LLP specializing in employment discrimination and media law. It was the firm’s work that triggered the #MeToo movement in 2017 when their client’s file was leaked from the Weinstein Corporation to The New York Times exposing Harvey Weinstein’s pattern of sexual abuse. The firm’s work improves workplaces, schools and legislation, and Heidi is counsel or executive producer on films and media initiatives triggering social and legislative change. (10/23)

Steven M. Engel

Steve is an award-winning producer, executive producer and president of Engel Entertainment, a widely-respected non-fiction production company of hundreds of prime-time empathetic programming and award-winning feature documentaries leading to concrete social and legislative change. A passionate storyteller, Engel produced the Emmy Award-winning documentary, A WALK TO BEAUTIFUL, winning Best Feature Documentary Award from the IDA among 35 other awards. Engel is an executive producer of the award-winning MISSING IN BROOKS COUNTY, airing on PBS’s Independent Lens and also leading to significant social and legislative change. (10/23)

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