He knew that in order to truly move forward with his life, hed have to revisit his past, search for the source of his cognitive disconnect, and confront his demons head on. Henrys older brothers one of whom, Howard Nevison would go on to become a renowned opera singer and well-respected cantor at a high-profile synagogue became abusers; and abuse breeds more abuse. Digging through the vast collection of his father's home videos, a young man reconstructs the unthinkable story of his boyhood and exposes vile abuse passed through generations.Digging through the vast collection of his father's home videos, a young man reconstructs the unthinkable story of his boyhood and exposes vile abuse passed through generations.Digging through the vast collection of his father's home videos, a young man reconstructs the unthinkable story of his boyhood and exposes vile abuse passed through generations. This event occurred on March 27, 2015. Tribeca Film Review: 'Rewind' - Variety All Rights Reserved. He has created a documentary in the hopes it will inspire other victims to come forward. What incentive would I have had to go public in order to endlessly defend myself? This is not a Jewish, Christian, black, white, gay, straight issue. "The only way I could understand or see myself is. Producers: Robert Schneeweis, Sasha Joseph Neulinger, Avela Grenier, Shasta Grenier Winston It is a human issue. The Montco-raised child actor and director was sexually abused as a child by two uncles and a cousin. In many ways, she was right. I got to watch the four years of my life from 4 to 8 where I was holding this painful secret and I got to watch myself grow up. Unflinching and uncompromising, Rewind is a documentary that isn't afraid to dive deep into the issues of abuse and trauma that it explores across its relatively brief 80 minute runtime as documentarian and main subject Sasha Neulinger delves into his own childhood and his families horrific experiences that spanned generations. "It was a triumphant moment." The legal minds who helped prosecute Neulinger's case reached out to him to set up a Children's Advocacy Center in his home county. Both Howard and Larry were fixtures at Henry and Jacquis homeas was Larrys second son, Stewart, who came to live there after being discharged from the Air Force. After all, a celebration was the perfect time to pull out his video camera. That was a big hurdle. That revelation, unsurprisingly, rocked the family, and it lands with seismic force here as well. His Uncle Larry Nevison was sentenced to 14-22 years in prison, and served 11 years. As Henry later remarks, when he now watches his family videos, all he sees is the stuff thats hidden in the background. Despite his best efforts to truly move forward, there were still lingering symptoms from his childhood trauma that continued to tug at him, and there was still a voice within Sasha that worked to pull him from the present moment, into a place of self-doubt, fear, and insecurity. Neulinger, now 29, said he was sexually abused by two uncles and a cousin as a child growing up in Pennsylvania. This is complex. But there has to be some separation, right? That critique, however, never materializes; instead, Neulingers film casts a wary eye at camcorders as a means of highlighting the deceptiveness of surface appearances. Sasha's parents dropped everything to support him. My sense of self-worth, my identity, my ability to see beauty in the world was deteriorating rapidly. Overcoming Childhood Trauma | Novni He started to see that despite his tumultuous childhood, he still had an entire lifetime waiting to be lived. Public Speaker and Film Director of REWIND. His story involves looking at multigenerational abuse and the emotional, clinical and legal facets that go with it. Link to Sasha's video documentary "Rewind to Fast Forward": https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sashaneulinger/rewind-to-fast-forward, 76ers' Joel Embiid ruled out for Game 1 vs. Celtics, Drivers ticketed for leaving cars in path of street sweepers, ESPN: Harper to return to lineup 159 days after Tommy John surgery. You know, it was incredibly emotional to watch that footage, to see an innocent child who has a zest for life and to watch that child to watch myself lose that light. Henry isnt hiding behind his lenses, not anymore, he can finally express affection for his son from the other side of the camera. What I am hoping to do is really talk about how we can help children so they don't grow up angry and disconnected, and subconsciously willing to repeat the cycle," said Sasha. This is a devasting story, and everyone in the film is nearly destroyed by it - Sasha by years of suicidal thoughts, his father by enormous guilt over not protecting his children, his mother by. Shooting injures 3 people in South Philadelphia. Shortly before Sasha turned 17, Howard's attorneys ran out of delays, and discussions of a plea agreement commenced. To his surprise, his father had three huge boxes and over 200 hours of home video, said Neulinger, whose name change is dealt with in Rewind. Rewind (2019) - IMDb For the next nine years of my life, I was in and out of courtrooms testifying against all three of my abusers.. After scoring very high marks on his standardized tests after Kindergarten, Sasha began displaying frequent withdrawal episodes. This interview has been edited and condensed. As a filmmaker, Neulinger owes much here to his father Henry who was late to his own sons birth because he was buying the video camera hed use to shoot so much of this footage. 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And he was captured on film at every stage by his father Henry, a compulsive videographer and producer of PBS documentaries. In fact, a Reform rabbi spelled it out to Neulinger, asserting the movie would only succeed in hurting Jews. The film, which premiered at Tribeca last year and is screening on demand on Friday, May 8 and on PBS' Independent Lens on Monday, May 11, is a wrenching but necessary directorial debut for. People will make up excuses in their own minds because its easier to say, Oh hes just eccentric, hes quirky, hes not really touching inappropriately. The clip in the film where Howard is using the word pervert in a joking way, thats not a very that makes people uncomfortable but people are willing to overlook it and I think that happens all the time.. God on Psychedelics? Well send you updates moving forward, but you can unsubscribe at any time. A poem for Parsha Parsha Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, Spielberg Says Antisemitism Is No Longer Lurking, But Standing Proud Like 1930s Germany, Young Actress Juju Brener on Her Hocus Pocus 2 Role, Behind the Scenes of Jeopardy! with Mayim Bialik, Unpacking the Crisis in Israel and BrainstormingSolutions. ), A former child actor whose credits included Shallow Hal and Unbreakable, Neulinger lived in Rosemont and attended Gladwyne Elementary School until moving to Allentown at the age of 10. Is Director Ari Aster a Madman or a Genius? From the get-go, Sasha Joseph Neulinger knew hed face turbulent waters in creating Rewind (May 11 on PBS). Montana was also as far away from Ground Zero as I could get. Given how much Rewind relies, from the get-go, on home movie footage of the clanwhich would soon come to include a daughter, Bekah, whom Sasha fiercely lovedJacquis early comment implies a forthcoming focus on the harmful presence of technology in modern American households. But there was still this self-deprecating voice in the back of my mind that would say, Sasha, youre dirty, youre disgusting, unlovable. And I wanted to find out where that voice was coming from. All Rights Reserved. His case spurred a larger movement in child advocacy, including the creation of Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center in East Norriton with the help of then-district attorney Risa Ferman and Abbie Newman. In turn, they told his father, who revealed that he, too, had been sexually abused by both his brothers. And theres no cost to families. After Sasha Joseph Neulinger finished film school at Montana State University, he discovered the raw materials that would propel him to tell the extraordinary story of his life. Neither Neulinger nor his family saw these as roadblocks, although his sister (admittedly for different reasons) couldnt understand why he needed to make the film and relive the atrocities, especially after having been through so much already. I was you know, hiking, fishing, and doing all the things that I loved. After premiering at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, "Rewind" makes its television debut on PBS "Independent Lens.". Based on current statistics, Sasha found that "1 out of every 3 women, and 1 out of every 5 men were sexually abused as children". Relatives and other interested parties (detectives, doctors, attorneys, etc.) However, the 30-year-old also knew confronting his demons was a necessary step. A painful examination of lost innocence and injustice. reveal to Sasha their side of the situation. I cant imagine a world in which my family was part of the construction of the film. At some level, I believed I deserved this.. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. My little sister didnt deserve to be hurt like that. When I was a kid going through all this, a lot of my time was spent just trying to survive to the next day. Rewind chronicles his life as a survivor of multi-generational child sexual abuse. Apart from select recollections of detailed descriptions from a few personal accounts, the doc makes a point not to overplay its potentially explicit nature. Like many similar advocacy centers across the country, including the one in Holland, its a child-friendly space where kids can share their stories, undergo forensic medical exams, experience play, art and psycho-therapy, all under one roof. Sasha said it was because of Bekah's "private club with Stuart," one of his Uncle Howard's nephews. Stewart asked for a plea deal and served 11 months in prison. But when I watch myself as a kid objectively as an adult, he continued, I see that my abusers didnt take that beauty away from me, even though I was experiencing pain, even though I was limited by self-doubt and self-deprecating thoughts. Jacqui and Henrys son, Sasha was always an extremely engaging child. The harrowing and courageous documentary, "Rewind," marks the directorial debut of Henry's first child, Sasha Joseph Neulinger, who took the name of his maternal great-grandfather as a way of severing any lingering connection to his abusers. I felt safe, supported, and felt free to express myself. Through Kickstarter, Neulinger started raising funds to create the project that became the sixth most-backed documentary in Kickstarter history, he added, and began working with Skywalker Sound and editor Ken Schretzmann from Pixar. He had called his father, Henry Nevison, a documentary filmmaker (On the Other Side of the Fence), and asked if he still had any videotapes from his sons childhood. The Filmmaker Sasha Joseph Neulinger is the co-founder and head of production at Step 1 Films. When, at the age of 10, Neulinger told his father he wanted to drop the family name (Nevison), his father accepted and supported his sons decision. Interspersed throughout, Neulinger interviews his mother, father, sister and psychiatrist among others recalling their growing realizations that something rotten was transpiring in their own home and the culprits were close family members. Contact: mstern@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740. Its a journey.. Rewind (2019) - IMDb There is inspiration, there is hope and the message is that if we are able to look at our wounds and embrace your fears, to accept and examine our traumatic experiences, then we can truly heal them and move forward in life, he said, and this idea that its never too late to start the journey of healing. Before the filmmaker spells things out, he uses videos of backyard cookouts and innocent gatherings to introduce members of a gregarious extended family, in which Henry, when not holding the camera, was usually mugging for it alongside one of his brothers. But I still felt trapped in a secret. Streaming on Hulu, nominated for three Emmy Awards. According to Jacqui, The camera immediately became a wall between Henry and the family. By what name was Rewind (2019) officially released in India in English? Sasha doesnt blame his father; there is no disdain remaining, only raw empathy. Sashas story has helped other survivors immensely, and ideally, these aspects would have been more intricately threaded into the documentary rather than but punctuated its ending. After a plea bargain, Howard was sentenced to 12 years probation, when Neulinger was 16. Interviews with his mother, as the audience saw, included recalling a time where Neulinger tried to jump out of a moving car and dark drawings he had made. And maybe, just maybe, I didnt either.. "I'm not looking to point fingers and call out monsters and come at it with a need for vengeance. My kids that we plan to have one day are going to be die-hard Flyers fans. Courtesy of John Solem. Digging through the vast collection of his father's home videos, a young man reconstructs the unthinkable story of his boyhood and exposes vile abuse passed through generations. Through embracing my fear and confronting what scared me the most, I rediscovered my beauty and learned to harness my power. Bodies at crematory could exceed 300 - Tampa Bay Times I only lost the ability to accept that I was beautiful, to see that I was worth something. My sister drew pictures that no 4-year-old child should know how to draw, he said. Notable people and events in the Jewish LA community. He now lives in Montana, where he and his wife, Lauren, and their puppy are riding out the coronavirus pandemic in relative isolation. Neulinger, in "Rewind," is the detective-interviewer excavating his own past, and with his shaved head, shadow of a beard, and polite becalmed millennial manner, he's an earnest and at times. Taking a deep breath before putting fingers to keyboard to write this article, pondering. The goal for the Sept. 24 event was to raise the additional funds needed for sound editing and to create an original score for the film, which he hopes will be done by August 2017. M&H, which stands for milk and honey, is Israels first whisky distillery, and the only one that has won awards. Neulingers father is one of the more remarkable figures in this film. Yet the more Neulinger crawls back into his thorny past, the more it becomes apparent that his victimizationas well as Bekahswas not an isolated incident. I read every article, I watch every game. Executive producers: Cindy Meehl, Thomas Winston Larry, on the other hand, comes across in old clips as a performance-happy clown, affecting funny accents and playing to the camera. Interview: Sasha Joseph Neulinger on How "Rewind" Helped His Family He jumped out of a moving car in an attempt to kill himself. I was unwilling to make my entire young life about prosecution. Copyright 2023 WPVI-TV. After a decade of battling to reclaim his voice in court as a child in Pennsylvania, Sasha moved to Montana in 2008 to study film production at Montana State University. But his fathers camera, trained on the frequent gatherings of a tight-knit family, was also documenting a hidden secret, the revelation of which would lead to a media firestorm, a high-stakes court battle, and a generational reckoning. I thought I was awful and that I must have done something to deserve it. And at the same time, I got to observe my parents more objectively now as an adult. Sasha Neulingers documentary is as affecting as they come, both for its portrait of unthinkable horrors perpetrated against the weak and defenseless, and for its optimism that healinghowever arduously attainedis possible. Made up of home video footage that reveals a long-kept secret, Sasha Joseph Neulingers. It is a human issue. 10 p.m. Monday, WHYY12. I was about to turn 17, and the legal process could have gone for another two or three . In this present moment of intense national (and global) stress, theres nothing quite as cathartic as a simultaneously wrenching and heartening cry. We live in a very rural part of the state. And as the film progresses, the more we similarly notice the carefully concealed agony being endured, and villainy being perpetrated, off-screenspied in a childs sorrowful eyes, inappropriately sexualized dance, and frantic outburst, or in a grown mans hair-ruffling gesture or toothy grin. 'Rewind' Film Review: Family Tale of Sexual Abuse Is - Yahoo With one foot in front of the other, and with each step taken, more of the path is revealed. Old home movies, recording happy times, serve as the storys backdrop, presenting a stark contrast to the darker truths that existed behind the scenes and cast a long shadow. I built a loving and respectful relationship with myself and reclaimed ownership of my life and it feels absolutely amazing!. He was present when interacting with others; he was gifted and joyful. I was in constant therapy sessions. He has been developing his documentary, "Rewind to Fast Forward" from his dad's collection of videos. This is incredibly powerful! Thus Rewind, was spawned, a seven-year project that started when Neulinger was still a film student at Montana State University. After finishing film school at Montana State University, he discovered the raw materials that. Rewind Review: Sasha Neulinger Documentary Finds Horror in - IndieWire Let us know how we can support the important work you are doing. Filmography. 2, The Best Gifts for Women Who Love Fashion, Beauty, Tech and More, Channel Your Inner Queen Charlotte with This Star-Loved British Brands Exclusive Skincare Kit, Naomi Watts Just Wore These Under-$100 PJs from Two Star-Loved Brands And Theyre the Perfect Mothers Day Gift for Stylish Travelers, The Best Signet Rings for Adding a Red Carpet-Ready Touch to Your Jewelry Stack, Everyone Is Just Scrambling: Hollywood on Edge as Writers Guild Talks Go Down to the Wire, Succession Director on Filming That Surprise Cameo and Tying Up Her Kendall Trilogy, James Gunns Guardians: How Chris Pratt and His Marvel Castmates Rescued Their Directors Career, The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News. I was surviving, Neulinger recalled. He suffered from insomnia, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. If my religious leaders, those who connect me to God, are sinister or even evil, what does that say about my faith? It was something that became intrusive to me, because it was constant and it felt to me like I lost my husband. Filmmaker inspired by professionals who help children Documentary Biography Drama. For more visit www.joelschoontanisart.com. "After nine years of secondary trauma, on top of four years of actual abuse . The case made headlines as it was found that his uncle, Howard Nevison, one of his abusers (Neulinger and family have changed their names), was a well-known cantor . I am the biggest Flyers nerd on the planet. When Im practicing and I dont have to wear my teams jersey, Im wearing a Flyers jersey. But, like so much else in life, it came about organically as he began sorting through his fathers old videos in an effort to cobble together a cohesive whole from the chaotic threads of his childhood. Another boy pinched me, he answered. Case of Cantor Howard Nevison - The Awareness Center Sasha Joseph Neulinger. His mom asked his sister to draw pictures. Now, as executive director of Mission Kids, she works to make sure that isnt peoples first reactions. And so I was able to reclaim these beautiful memories that had been lost, which was extremely healing and cathartic. / Sasha Joseph Neulinger Is a Survivor of . Rewind Filmmaker Sasha Neulinger | Independent Lens | PBS Rewind: Directed by Sasha Joseph Neulinger. Sasha Joseph Neulinger in 2014. Simi Horwitz is a New York-based award-winning feature writer/film reviewer. It was like a fairy tale, is how Jacqui describes the foursomes initial years together. "I realized my sister was also being abused," said Sasha. I walked away from the last three trials with my uncle Howard. It was as he was graduating from Montana State Universitys film school that Neulinger began to realize that despite years of therapy, the trauma of his childhood wasnt done with him. Through the steps we take, we earn that shift in perspective: to see the scale of our lives independent of the trauma we experienced. We take every word our religious leaders say as the truth and in so doing, surrender our cognizant reasoning. Crafted with striking delicacy, the films form is of a piece with its content. I struggled with what public disclosure would do for me. WATCH A SPECIAL CLIP FROM THE DOCUMENTARY HERE. In those days, Neulinger had to travel to physicians offices, detective offices, Child Protective Services and various other government buildings, telling his story over and over, dozens of times. Amazon.com: Rewind : Sasha Joseph Neulinger, Avela Grenier, Shasta Grenier, Robert Schneeweis, Thomas Winston: Prime Video Home Free with ads Rewind Digging through the vast collection of his father's home videos, a young man reconstructs the unthinkable story of his boyhood and exposes vile abuse passed through generations. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Everything is under one roof with access to justice, physical, emotional and mental healing, Neulinger said. Documentary Sheds Light on Child Abuse - Jewish Exponent Shortly after graduating college in 2013, Sasha asked his dad to send him all of the home videos that had been filmed during his childhood. So it was really that move, and to be able to have space from what happened, that was equally as important as the incredible therapeutic service I received from Dr. Lustig. In that regard, Rewind delivers in spades. (One uncle, Lawrence Nevison, and his son, Stewart Nevison, pleaded guilty to felonies and were sent to prison in connection with separate incidents with Neulinger. Nevison was released on $100,000 bail after a Wednesday evening court appearance. The story, as Neulinger's mom Jacqui remembers it, is that her husband Henry Nevison was several hours late to Sasha's birth because he was out buying a video camera, and that beginning . Where in Montana does Sasha Neulinger live? I Trusted Them: The Pain of Sexual Abuse, All artwork by Joel Tanis is from the walls of the CAC. That alone makes it an unbearably sad account of rape and trauma. Following is the full transcript of filmmaker Sasha Joseph Neulinger's TEDx Talk titled: Trauma is Irreversible. 'Rewind': Sasha Joseph Neulinger's Wrenching Survival Story Is An