Beneath The Blindfold: A Film About Surviving Political Torture

EVANSTON, Ill. --- “Beneath the Blindfold,” a highly acclaimed documentary about four survivors of political torture, will be screened Thursday, March 6, at Northwestern University.

A panel discussion with the film’s directors, one of the survivors and a staffer from the Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture will take place at the conclusion of the film.

The screening begins at 7 p.m. in Room 107 of Harris Hall, 1881 Sheridan Road, Evanston campus. It is free and open to the public.

At a time when fictionalized accounts dominate the public’s understanding of torture, “Beneath the Blindfold” reveals the reality of life after torture. Filmmakers Kathy Berger and Ines Sommers allow a Guatemalan physician, a former Liberian child soldier, a Colombian actor and an American former contractor in Iraq to share their stories of coming to terms with a fearsome past and moving beyond it.

Filmmakers Berger and Sommers, Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture staff psychologist John Neafsey and Matilde de la Sierra, one of the survivors featured in the film, will discuss the daunting task of rebuilding lives. Accompanying de la Sierra will be her husband Jim Manzardo, who also is featured in the film.

The event is co-sponsored by Northwestern’s Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies, Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights, the Center for Forced Migration Studies and Percolator Films. For information, follow on Twitter: @CGE_NU or visit the Center for Gloabl Engagement, Northwestern University Global Engagement Studies Institute,  or the Facebook event page. Become a fan of CGE.