Award for Don’t Tell
Film screened at Newport Beach Film Festival in US
DON’T Tell, the film that tells the story of a girl’s determination for justice after the sexual abuse of a Toowoomba private school teacher, has won the 2017 Feature Film Audience Award at Newport Beach Film Festival.
It was one of the 350 films screened at the festival in California, USA, from April 20 to 27.
The film follows Lyndal (played by Sara West), a young girl who ignores the ominous words from her teacher at school and reports his abuse.
With a determined local lawyer on her side, she takes on the powerful church that denied her abuse for more than a decade.
Producer Scott Corfield said the reaction from the mostly American audience was “quite gratifying”.
“The film is set in Toowoomba but it’s certainly not a Toowoomba story, it’s a universal one and I think that’s why it connected with a lot of people over there,” Mr Corfield said.
“The audience applauded us for telling such an honest and truthful story.
“There’s a lot of integrity and we didn’t sensationalise it like it is often done in Hollywood courtroom dramas.
“Everyone thought it was refreshing to see something so honest and we could not have asked for a better reaction.”
The film will be released in Australia on May 18, but there will be an advanced screening in Toowoomba.
Mr Corfield said the “beautiful” song Torchlight, written by Missy Higgins, and its film clip which was shot in the Empire Theatre, would be released this week.
See donttellmovie.com for a full list of cinemas.