By Florence Jaugey
A close-up look at the varieties and complexities of domestic violence, "The Day You Love Me" takes us into the daily life of policewomen and social workers in one of the Police Commissaries for Women and Children in Nicaragua's capital city of Managua. Women of different ages, as well as children and young adults, come there seeking help against abusive husbands, lovers and parents. They also talk freely about their experiences and their sometimes conflicting desires for change. The men in their lives come to the station to respond to the charges against them by defending themselves, justifying their actions, arguing their own grievances, or even admitting their wrongs. Actively engaged in the life of the community around the Commissary, the policewomen and social workers demonstrate their responsiveness and skill in dealing with a range of situations and abuses. In the course of documenting their day, this important film records the essential and empowering process that breaks the traditional law of silence aiding and abetting domestic violence in its many forms.
Review
~ "Neither numbers nor statistics demonstrate what this documentary shows about domestic violence. 'The Day You Love Me' gets the audience to look through a window where reality is hidden behind the domestic walls." - Noticias de GEMAS
Notes
~ Cannes Film Festival
~ Cinema du Reel, Paris
~ Montreal World Film Festival
~ American Cinema Festival of Trieste, Italy
~ Festival d'Amiens, France
~ Cartagena Film Festival, Colombia
~ Latin American Film Festival, Providence, Rhode Island
~ Festival de M¨˘laga, Spain
~ San Juan Cinemafest, Puerto Rico
~ Habana Film Festival, Cuba
~ Int'l Festival for Human Rights, DerHuMALC, Argentina
~ Amnesty International Flim Festival, Amsterdam
~ North South Media Festival, Geneva, Switzerland
Award
~ Biarritz Latin American Film Festival (La Cita), France - Union Latine prize for Best Documentary
|