| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
|
|
Andrea Pino | ... | Self |
|
|
Annie Clark | ... | Self |
|
|
Claire Potter | ... | Self - Professor of History (as Claire Bond Potter) |
|
|
Melinda Manning | ... | Self - Assistant Dean of Students, University of North Carolina |
|
|
Kimberly Theidon | ... | Self - Medical Anthropologist and Former Harvard Professor |
|
|
Kamilah Willingham | ... | Self |
|
|
Mrs. Willingham | ... | Self - Kamilah Willingham's Mother |
| Caroline Heldman | ... | Self - Associate Professor of Politics, Occidental College | |
|
|
David Lisak | ... | Self - Clinical Psychologist |
|
|
Leslie Strohm | ... | Self - General Counsel, University of North Carolina (archive footage) |
|
|
Danielle Dirks | ... | Self - Assistant Professor of Sociology, Occidental College |
|
|
Diane Rosenfeld | ... | Self - Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School (as Diane L. Rosenfeld) |
|
|
Pat Cottrell | ... | Self - Former University Campus Police Officer, Saint Mary's College |
|
|
Rachel Hudak | ... | Self |
|
|
Carol Ann Mooney | ... | Self - President, Saint Mary's College (archive footage) |
From the makers of The Invisible War (2012) comes a startling exposé of rape crimes on U.S. college campuses, their institutional cover-ups and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. Weaving together verité footage and first-person testimonies, the film follows the lives of several undergraduate assault survivors as they attempt to pursue - despite incredible push back, harassment, and traumatic aftermath - both their education and justice.
A documentary that digs deep into the toxic rape culture that exists on our country's college campuses, The Hunting Ground should be required viewing for any stakeholder involved in college life. In true documentary fashion, the film cuts right to the bones of the issue with such laser-beam precision that it reveals an entire web of corruption that is especially salient considering the rash of victim-shaming that emerges when this issue is brought before many political leaders. Perhaps the most shocking part of this story is the implication that (perhaps because of financial or personal pressures) the presidents of these colleges seem to value the health and safety of their athletic programs above those of their other students. This implication is exemplified with the film's brutally honest treatment of the accusations against Jameis Winston, the Florida State football quarterback who is entering the NFL draft this year. Though the bulk of the film focuses on articulating how colleges—we're talking the heavy hitters like Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley—spend more of their resources on covering up these allegations than actually punishing the perpetrators, the stories of the survivors and their efforts to gain national traction and support leaves the audience with the feeling that things are slowly changing for the better. --Alex Springer