SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2021 REVIEW! In an intensely personal work director, Shaina Ghuraya and actor Angela Rockwood portray the impact of rape/sexual assault on someone with a disability. I Wish I Never refers to the main character’s desire to trust someone she fell in love with, the choice she made to open up to that individual, and the devastating outcome when he takes advantage of her. This film, told in an experimental fashion, is deeply felt and is probably indicative of more than one person’s experience.
“…portray the impact of rape/sexual assault on someone with a disability.”
A statistic that opens the movie states that 40% of women with disabilities will experience rape/sexual assault during their lifetimes. In my academic life, I have done research on this phenomenon, and the stories are quite chilling – especially when you recognize that for many women with intellectual disabilities, sexual education is not offered since they are assumed to be chaste forever. While I Wish I Never is about someone who uses a wheelchair, many able-bodied people would not see this individual as a sexual being by virtue of her disability.
I Wish I Never screened at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival.
"…deeply felt and is probably indicative of more than one person’s experience."
