DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2019

Baljit Sangra
2019 | 85 min 

Friday, May 3 | 7:00 PM | VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE (600 Hamilton St.)
Tuesday, May 7 | 6:30 PM | VANCITY THEATRE (1181 Seymour St.)

To purchase tickets, click here.

A conservative Indo-Canadian family in small-town British Columbia must come to terms with a devastating secret: three sisters were sexually abused by an older relative beginning in their childhood years. After remaining silent for nearly two and a half decades, the sisters decide to come forward—not only to protect other young relatives, but to set an example for their daughters as well.

Documentarian Baljit Sangra sensitively explores the impact of sexual abuse on a family, turning her empathetic lens on intimate moments in the family’s life. Full of nuance and layers, Because We Are Girls weaves poetically between past and present, darkness and light. We witness the emotional toll that pursuing justice through the courts and confronting their family for not protecting them as children takes on the sisters. But we also share in their happiness as they bond with their daughters and dance along to their favourite Bollywood songs. As the film deftly intertwines touching home footage of the young, innocent girls they once were alongside uplifting scenes of the strong, empowered women they have become, the family’s unconditional love flows freely through it all.

Straying from typical portraits of the journey to healing, Because We Are Girls offers a unique and powerful tribute to women’s strength in the face of profound trauma.