The Hunting Ground

The documentary takes sexual assault at universities in America and how the institutions deal with it. At the centre are two students: Andrea Pino and Annie Clark made complaints at their own schools and nothing happened. They find a legal route, filing against the schools under the federal regulation prohibiting discrimination in education. Then they teach others to do the same and a network forms across the country. Kirby Dick directs. The documentary dates from 2015. What it really treats is not the assault but the institutional response; the narrative claims the schools keep cases off the record out of concern for reputation and donations. Separate sections are given to athletics programmes and student societies, and those sections caused argument. The account of one case in the film was later questioned and its method was criticised; some academics objected to the statistics used. It was nominated for best song at the Oscars. It was screened at hundreds of universities in America and used as a reference in policy debates. Its method is testimony; the interviews are kept long and given without cutting. Who it is for: people who watch documentary on social subjects and arguments about institutional responsibility. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the narrative one sided, and some claims are contested.