 |
"Silenced
Chidren"
Documentary 52mn. 2002
Authors : Ondine MILLOT / Christian PASSUELLO
Production : Coup d'Œil
TV broadcasting : Arte
This documentary traces the events that significantly affected the lives
of inhabitants of the village of Cormeilles in the year following the
arrest of a schoolteacher found guilty of paedophilia.
The 1,227 inhabitants of Cormeilles, in the French region of Eure, experienced
the distress of their children, of loved ones and neighbours in and beyond
their village, via the media. Their stories were brutally projected onto
the front pages of newspapers and television news screens.
The aim of this film is not to re-examine the crime committed by the schoolteacher,
since condemned for his acts, but to look at the effects of such an event
on a small community left wounded and shaken.
For years, this teacher taught children to read and write while taking
advantage of his position and of the innocence of his students.
Who knew ? Beyond the affective and psychological wounds, this is the
question which the residents of Cormeilles ask themselves and which rocks
the foundations of institutions throughout the country.
This affair is a modern tragedy in a particular time and place, and its
characters, victims of an event that overwhelms them. By telling the story
of Cormeilles, this film takes a look at the universal reaction of silence,
the accumulation of secrets and taboos, of family relationships and the
fears that can sometimes do more harm than good.
