Three sisters and their father share an unspeakable family secret. It might have remained one but for their brother, who grew up to be a filmmaker. Chico Colvards 2010 rough-around-the-edges documentary Family Affair is unusually creepy. For 30 years, Colvards sisters protected their incestuous father. Pressured by him to keep quiet, and by their desire for family, for a sense of belonging and a need to be loved, the sisters accommodated him, in their brothers words. They even welcomed him back into the family and visited him on holidays after he served one year in prison for decades of abuse. The daughters went so far as to leave their own daughters for him to babysit.
I was ashamed at my failure to challenge my father and rally my sisters, says director Colvard. In time, I came to discover that this was the story, the part no one talks about when it comes to incest and families in crisis. The cringe-inducing documentary has won numerous awards, no doubt due to the incredible honesty, dignity and overpowering grace under pressure the sisters display in the film. As difficult as it might be to understand, that their psyches arent shattered is testament to their refusal to be victimized. Director Chico Colvard will be in attendance and take questions from the audience following the Friday and Saturday screenings. 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. 14 Pews, 800 Aurora Street. For information, call 281-888-9677 or visit www.14pews.org. $8.
Dec. 2-4, 7 p.m., 2010
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.
