The Vicki Bernadet Foundation gives the Fada to Culture Award to the film ʻNo tengas miedoʼ, by Montxo Armendáriz
The Vicki Bernadet Foundation conferred on the film Donʼt Be Afraid (2011), written and directed by Montxo Armendáriz, the Fada to Culture Award, a new prize which recognizes those works that contribute to the fight against child sexual abuse by means of literature, music, journalism or performing and audiovisual arts. The auditorium of the Catalunya - la Pedrera Foundation held the award ceremony on 18th February. The vice-rector for Administration and Organization of the UB, Dr Carme Panchón, attended the event as a representative of the rector, Dr Dídac Ramírez.
The Vicki Bernadet Foundation conferred on the film Donʼt Be Afraid (2011), written and directed by Montxo Armendáriz, the Fada to Culture Award, a new prize which recognizes those works that contribute to the fight against child sexual abuse by means of literature, music, journalism or performing and audiovisual arts. The auditorium of the Catalunya - la Pedrera Foundation held the award ceremony on 18th February. The vice-rector for Administration and Organization of the UB, Dr Carme Panchón, attended the event as a representative of the rector, Dr Dídac Ramírez.
By means of Silvia, the main character of the film, starred by the actress Michelle Jenner, Armendáriz describes the pain, the fear and the confusion felt by those who suffered sexual abuses during their childhood. The director considers that his film is about their determination to face a traumatic fate; about their will to build up their own future; about the need to show on the screen a dark truth our society insists on ignoring.
The jury of the Fada Award thought that the film brings the general public, in an elegant and respectful, but at the same time harsh way, closer to one of the most taboo but so frequent topic: intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Donʼt Be Afraid aims at raising societyʼs awareness of an uncomfortable reality which has been always related to other countries, social classes or types of families, as if it was anotherʼs concern. Armendáriz describes something that happens in our country, in a family and in a context that could be ours. To write the film the director carried out an extraordinary extensive research.
Besides, the documentary Infància en risc, of the TV programme Sense ficció, broadcast on TV3 channel, was short-listed in this first Fada Award. The documentary, first screened in February 2011, gives voice to child abuses. Negligence and sexual and physical abuses are dealt by different anonymous testimonies of boys and girls who have suffered these situations. The jury remarked the sensitive manner in which such a difficult and controversial topic is presented to the public. Infància en risc is a rigorous documentary that empathises with the viewer. Another remarkable aspect is the audiovisual animation that accompanies the narrative; it expresses with drawings many of the emotions felt by the people interviewed, as well as their courage which breaks the silence and the secrecy that shrouds these situations.
Finally, the Foundation has also conferred an honorary award on the actress Mont Plans for her commitment to fight against sexual abuses and her support for the Vicki Bernadet Foundation since its beginnings.
According to the latest studies, it is estimated that, in Spain, other European countries, United States and Canada, about 23-25 % of girls and 10-15 % of boys suffer sexual abuses before they are 17 years old. It is believed that today 60 % of these children do not receive any kind of support.