PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Film Festival brought back a documentary from last year’s film festival to help educate students and adults alike on the impact of sexual shaming.
The film will be shown today and Thursday at Port Townsend and Chimacum high schools and at Peninsula College, according to Janette Force, executive director of the Port Townsend Film Festival.
The director, Emily Lindin, is attending each of the screenings to answer questions and moderate discussions about the film and about bullying, sexual assault and gender discrimination.
The screenings have been a cooperative effort between film festival staff, Jefferson County Public Health, Dove House, the CoLab and the Chimacum Prevention Coalition, Force said.
“The film is about the serious impact that social media can have on young girls,” Force said.
“It’s called UnSlut because the word ‘slut,’ it’s kind of a difficult word and kind of a shocking word for my generation.
“Not so much for the younger generation but it’s still really damaging.”
At 11, Lindin was labeled a “slut” at her school and bullied at school, after school and online, she said.
In 2013, Lindin started the UnSlut project by posting entries from her middle school diary online.
“It became a bit of a community and a support network,” Force said.
Lindin is now a Harvard graduate with a doctorate. She has written a book based on her blog and is now the sexual health and wellness columnist for “Teen Vogue.”
“She’s one of those speakers that is incredibly generous with her time,” Force said. “The student response to this has been overwhelmingly positive so far.”
The film was shown during the 2016 Port Townsend Film Festival in September and was shown at Chimacum High School on Tuesday.
It will be shown at the Port Townsend High School and Ocean Program during school today with a free showing, open to the public, at 6:30 tonight at the auditorium at Chimacum High School Auditorium, 91 W. Valley Road.
“UnSlut: A Documentary Film” about sexual shaming, will be screened Thursday.
The Magic of Cinema, the Port Townsend Film Festival and Peninsula College’s Sociology Department are sponsoring the screening at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Maier Performance Hall on Peninsula College’s Port Angeles campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Tickets will be $5 at the door. Students will be admitted free.
More on the UnSlut Project can be found online at www.unslutproject.com.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@ peninsuladailynews.com.
Author and director Emily Lindin will be attending the screenings of her documentary “UnSlut” and will lead discussions after each screening. (Port Townsend Film Festival)
