After exposing the violent sexual assault within the U.S. military in The Invisible War, director Kirby Dick is returning to Sundance Film Festival this year with a similarly-themed expose, but in a different institution. The Hunting Ground — premiering at Sundance this Friday and hitting theaters in March via Radius-TWC — heads to college campuses to explore the rampant sexual assault and subsequent cover-up. The gripping first trailer has now landed, along with the poster, both of which can be seen below, following a Sundance capsule revealing more about the project.
In a tour de force of verité footage, expert insights, and first-person testimonies, the film follows undergraduate rape survivors pursuing both their education and justice, despite ongoing harassment and the devastating toll on them and their families. Scrutinizing the gamut of elite Ivies, state universities, and small colleges, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering reveal an endemic system of institutional cover-ups, rationalizations, victim-blaming, and denial that creates perfect storm conditions for predators to prey with impunity. Meanwhile, the film captures mavericks Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, survivors who are taking matters into their own hands—ingeniously employing Title IX legal strategy to fight back and sharing their knowledge among a growing, unstoppable network of young women who will no longer be silent.
From the team behind THE INVISIBLE WAR, comes a startling exposé of rape crimes on U.S. campuses, institutional cover-ups and the brutal social toll on victims and their families. Weaving together verité footage and first-person testimonies, the film follows survivors as they pursue their education while fighting for justice — despite harsh retaliation, harassment and pushback at every level.
The Hunting Ground opens on February 27th.