Untold, the short film Leah Zieger and David Zieger made telling the harrowing story of her sexual abuse when she was a teenager–not by an adult, but by a fellow student. Her story, and the culture of abuse that kids grow up in in this country, is still hidden and must be exposed and confronted. It’s a riveting and essential tool in the fight for an abuse-free world.
“This is a film I wish I had not been able to make. I would give anything for our daughter Leah to never have met that boy, for her to have had the idyllic teenage experience that dreams and myths tell us is out there. It isn’t.
What Leah went through, from start to finish, was a textbook case of abuse. Only problem is she never read the textbook. It’s not in the curriculum for fifteen-year-old girls in this country. Or boys for that matter. Doesn’t count on test scores. As young girls and boys grapple their way into the world of sex and relationships, who is showing them the roadmaps? There is no sex education in schools, let alone relationship education. The puritans, fanatics and “reformers” have seen to that. But there are plenty of sadistic pornographers on the internet who are more than willing to tell boys what to do to girls. Healthy sex? Healthy relationships? You’re on your own, kid. Good luck. And by the way, if it goes bad–like, really bad–keep it to yourself. We don’t want to hear it.
But Leah did an amazing thing. Isolated, shunned by friends, she took her searing pain and turned it into a dance. ‘I have to make something beautiful out of this’ was her mantra. And three years later she and I sat down in front of cameras to tell her story. Out of that came this film. Nothing fancy. No tricks. Just the story. A story that has been repeated far too many times and for far too long, yet remains untold.
This is a film I wish I had not been able to make. But I couldn’t be more glad that I did. It’s a story that demands to be told and told over and over again. It’s a story that needs to be dragged out of the shadows kicking and screaming. Leah, a dancer and choreographer, is dedicating her life to using her art to support, strengthen and heal teenage girls facing the same nightmare she went through, and to prevent that nightmare from starting. Nothing could be more beautiful.” –David Zeiger, Director, Untold
Untold was released on March 12th, following a launch event held in Chicago. Untold could not have been released without the constant and undying support founder Leah Zeiger has received from family, friends, and fellow survivors.
Untold has shown at the Chicago Feminist Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary, at DocYourWorld, where it won the Storytelling Award, as well as events at Columbia College Chicago and the House of Blues.
Learn more about Untold at https://www.towardsthesun.org/untold
Leah performed her dance, Unnamed, her high school junior year.
Credits
Produced and Directed by
David Zeiger
Co-Directed by
Leah Zeiger
Director of Photography
May Rigler
Edited by
Lindsay Mofford
Leah’s Dance Filmed by
David Zeiger and May Rigler
Edited by
Adam Scott
Online Editor
Bill Russell
Additional Camera
Jule Madsen
Production Assistants
Alexandra Velasco
Taylor Ayers
Poster Design by
Alexandra Velasco
Michicant
Performed by Bon Iver
Courtesy of Jagjaguwar
Written by Justin Vernon
Published by Chris In The Morning Music LLC
Courtesy of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.
Holocene
Performed by Bon Iver
Courtesy of Jagjaguwar
Written by Justin Vernon
Published by Chris In The Morning Music LLC
Courtesy of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.
Thank You
Ruth Leitman
Steve Dixon
Eric Mofford
Marisa Mofford
Sarah Mofford
Juno Stilley
Tucker Stilley
Tracy Newman
Liz Manashil
Vangie Griego
Kay Madsen
Peter Broderick
Midge Sanford
Copyright © 2015 Displaced Films
