About the Film

The idea of writing The Ballerina came to as I watched the documentary film, The Hunting Ground, an exposé of rape crimes on U.S. College campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families.

 

The Hunting Ground has many heart wrenching interviews with campus rape survivors, but it was the story from one father that really reached out to me. His terrible tale was that his daughter, unable to deal with the consequences of being raped on campus, took her own life.

 

I know of a few films where the story centered on a violent sexual assault, but I couldn’t think of any that were told from the point of view of how such a terrible act would affect the loved ones of the victim.

 

Immediately, the story came to me. What would a father, so hurt and so angry after experiencing the tragedy of losing a child under such circumstances, be willing to do in order to try and make things right? What would stop his pain?

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Andrew M.A. Spear