Genre
Synopsis
A pair of recent statutes in NY State opened a brief window to allow victims of sexual assault for whom the statute of limitations had lapsed to get their day in court. The most visible example of a victim benefiting from this legislative change was E. Jean Carroll. Like E. Jean, Hilda Onley was a victim of sexual abuse decades ago – in her case, as a 15-year-old girl at the hands of her house father at the New York State Training School for Girls. She had waited 65 years to get her day in court. The NY Child Victims Act, passed in 2019, gave her the opportunity she’d been waiting for. In HILDA O. VSz THE STATE OF NEW YORK, we follow 81-year-old Hilda between deposition and court judgment, tracing her fight for justice.
Director Identity
Bio
Heather Greer is an Emmy-winning producer, award-winning filmmaker, and media artist. She is the founder of Black Tartan Studios, an Emmy-winning production company and boutique creative agency that specializes in short-form, nonfiction content centered around powerful human-driven stories. Heather’s films and video installations have screened and been exhibited nationally and internationally at leading festivals and arts venues including MoMA, Tribeca, BAFICI, the Female Eye Film Festival, the Calgary International Film Festival, and CineDoc.
THE HALFWAY BETWEEN ALL THIS, a short documentary that she co-directed and produced, was an official selection at the 2024 Calgary International Film Festival. She is currently co-directing and producing HILDA O. VS. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, a short documentary that follows 81-year-old Hilda Onley between deposition and court judgment as she seeks justice for the sexual abuse she endured while at the New York State Training School for Girls in 1958. NEVEREVERLAND, Heather’s feature narrative screenplay, was a selected project for the 2024 Stowe Narrative Lab. Heather holds a masters from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University.
Screening History
Premiere Avaialble
