Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age

In the fall of 2017, the MeToo hashtag shook the planet, sparking an unprecedented wave of sexual assault accusations in the Western world. Today, the storm of virulent misogyny is raging on, flooding our screens with harassment, defamation, lynching, sextortion, the sharing of intimate photographs, rape and death threats. Shockingly enough, according to the UN, 73% of women are abused online. The feature-length documentary Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age follows four women and one man whose lives have been ransacked by online violence: Laura Boldrini, the most harassed female politician in Italy; Kiah Morris, an African-American politician in the state of Vermont who resigned following severe harassment and threats from right-wing extremists; Marion Séclin, a French YouTuber who received more than 40,000 sexist messages, including rape and death threats; Laurence Gratton, a young teacher in Quebec who was harassed for more than five years by a former colleague; and Glen Canning, the father of Rehtaeh Parsons, a young girl who took her own life after photos of her rape were spread online. What is it like to live with this so-called “virtual” violence? That is what this important film attempts to show by closely following the victims in their daily lives. Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age also shows how each of the documentary protagonists is fighting the same battle. They share a common cause: to refuse to be silent. They are demanding widespread accountability from those who allow the propagation of such hate, whether it be the tech giants, the state, or the perpetrators themselves. Why this unrelenting and systematic discrimination against women? Can we shift the age-old paradigm?

EVENT After the screening, a panel debate with key experts on the topic will discuss the challenges of digital misogyny and explore solutions (30 minutes). The audience will have the opportunity to address any relevant questions in the Q&A. Following, attendees are encouraged to mingle in Asta Bar and utilise the conversation menus as a point of reflection (30 minutes).

Buy your ticket here.

Watch the trailer here.

Guylaine Maroist, Léa Clermont-Dion
Canada, 2022
DCP, 78 min.
English subtitles
Allowed over 15 years