Jacqui soon realized what was happening and it destroyed her marriage. You have entered an incorrect email address! He has been developing his documentary, "Rewind to Fast Forward" from his dad's collection of videos. 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. In fact, a Reform rabbi spelled it out to Neulinger, asserting the movie would only succeed in hurting Jews. I was constantly needing to prepare for different court dates. The legal minds who helped prosecute Neulingers case reached out to him to set up a Childrens Advocacy Center in his home county. 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. Shooting injures 3 people in South Philadelphia. 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. It also speaks to the silence, often self-imposed by victims themselves, that allows such heinousness to continueat least, that is, until someone stands up and says enough. [A-]. Made up of home video footage that reveals a long-kept secret, Sasha Joseph Neulingers. Rewind paints a vivid but ultimately hopeful portrait of a family plagued by a vicious cycle of abuse. By what name was Rewind (2019) officially released in India in English? For the next four years, he said two uncles and a cousin raped him, often during family gatherings in his own home. I read every article, I watch every game. That alone makes it an unbearably sad account of rape and trauma. The nature of the saga changes when we understand that this child was up against a man, Howard Nevison, whose prominent job as cantor for Manhattans Congregation Emanu-El came with powerful friends like Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who, according to the film, eased Nevison through the system when he was arrested. (Though Neulinger works hard to be even-handed here, including footage that shows Uncle Howies loving side, he doesnt invite anyone from Emanu-El to share their side of the story.). His father, a filmmaker, often brought his production . Is Director Ari Aster a Madman or a Genius? With Sasha Joseph Neulinger, Howard Nevison. But Neulinger says that his eldest uncle, Howard Nevison, was the most brutal of his abusers and Neulinger's father alleges that Howard also molested him and Lawrence when they were. Composer: T. Griffin, Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. We live in a very rural part of the state. From the get-go, Sasha Joseph Neulinger knew he'd face turbulent waters in creating "Rewind" (May 11 on PBS). By probing the gap between image and reality, the film depicts both how little and how much a camera can capture. Its therefore no surprise that adult Henry felt most comfortable taking cover behind a video camera, desperate as he subconsciously was to maintain a safe distance between himself and a family that, as history had taught him, was liable to hurt him. I walked away from the last three trials with my uncle Howard. 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. One day, when his cousin Stewart summoned him to a room in the attic, Neulinger saw his little sister exiting the room, tears rolling down her face. I only lost the ability to accept that I was beautiful, to see that I was worth something. They say it takes a village to raise a child, Neulinger noted. Henry never told his wife that they were bringing child abusers into their home. For as long as Neulinger can remember, a video camera was ever-present, with his father constantly filmingfrom birthday parties and hockey games to holidays. "If I had gotten the help that I should have had, and I realized and someone explained to me that both of my brothers were sick and could do this again, they wouldn't have been seen within miles of you ever," said Sasha's father Henry Neulinger. Its been a real journey for me as a survivor, but also as a human being, Neulinger told a packed ballroom at the Spring Lake Country Club on Friday afternoon during a fundraiser for Hollands Ed and Nancy Hanenburg Childrens Advocacy Center. Sasha speaks about his trauma as a child and how he learned to love himself again by transforming his pain into good. 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. I had gotten through it. Sasha Joseph Neulinger's heroic and devastating autobiographical documentary opens with questions familiar to many people: Why are home movies always so haunting? It was at that moment that I finally realized what my abusers were doing was wrong, he said. 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Sasha Joseph Neulinger, She felt things were going well for me. All rights reserved. Film-maker Sasha Joseph Neulinger rolls back the clock and reveals the truth of what happened to him. He said that, according to current statistics, one out of every four girls and one out of every six boys will be sexually abused before age 18. She recalled watching Neulingers case unfold on the news, not being able to believe it. My sense of self-worth, my identity, my ability to see beauty in the world was deteriorating rapidly. I felt this huge sense of relief. That revelation, unsurprisingly, rocked the family, and it lands with seismic force here as well. 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. But I do really love filmmaking. In many facets of his life, Sasha was thriving. But I still felt trapped in a secret. See production, box office & company info. Men act like they arent allowed to love each other, not openly. Production companies: Step 1 Films, Grizzly Creek Films As Henry later remarks, when he now watches his family videos, all he sees is the stuff thats hidden in the background. Shining a brighter light on this side of things would only have strengthened the movies impact. Executive producers: Cindy Meehl, Thomas Winston They provide a fun and friendly environment that shows visually the care that we provide for each child. Marking his film debut, Rewind is an autobiographical documentary that recounts how from ages 3 to 8, he was sexually abused by an adult cousin and two uncles, most notably Uncle Howard, Howard Nevison, the much respected and admired longtime cantor at Temple Emanuel on Fifth Avenue in New York. A painful examination of lost innocence and injustice. He started to see that despite his tumultuous childhood, he still had an entire lifetime waiting to be lived. 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. The comedy was a coping mechanism, as Henry now explains: His own childhood was an emotional minefield that can barely be sketched out here. The remarkable composure and empathy that Neulinger can be seen showing from his earliest years extend into his filmmaking, offering his immediate family the chance to share their experiences and reconcile how they handled things based on what they knew and, in some cases, felt they could not share with one another at the time. Meet new CAC Intake Coordinator, Heather Pedersen! 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. Jacqui soon realized what was happening and it destroyed her marriage. Let us know how we can support the important work you are doing. He suffered from insomnia, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Its a problem within all organized religion, which can become a trap. Its not that I didnt get love, its that I didnt feel lovable, Sasha concedes. However, the 30-year-old also knew confronting his demons was a necessary step. It was about justice.. Rewind, is simply an astounding movie and a milestone in psychiatrically minded filmmaking. Well send you updates moving forward, but you can unsubscribe at any time. But the most tragic thing is that all this sexual trauma goes much deeper than what happened to Sasha. 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. The way he did that, though, was to hint at another violation happening under the same roof that of his beloved sister Rebekah. Henrys decision to conceal his own ordeal for so long (only confessing it long after Sasha had begun spiraling out of control) undoubtedly contributed to his marriages collapse. Raised in Montgomery County, Pa., Neulinger grew up in a world of filmmaking. It was like a fairy tale, is how Jacqui describes the foursomes initial years together. 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. Crafted with striking delicacy, the films form is of a piece with its content. Neulinger approached his mother, telling her about the secret club that was doing bad things. Sasha Joseph Neulinger with his sister Bekah around the age that the sexual abuse started. But there was something else going on below the surface beneath the frames a terrible secret Henry never told his family about. This film breaks the silence surrounding child sexual abuse and encourages abuse victims to reach out for help. I only knew what my uncle was doing to me was extremely painful, Neulinger said. In HBO's "The Tale," Narberth's Jennifer Fox turns to fiction to tell her own true, tough story, California residents do not sell my data request. 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. Rewind To Fast-Forward is an autobiographical documentary about Sasha Joseph Neulinger, a survivor of multigenerational child sexual abuse. And theres no cost to families. And I spent 13 years in therapy with Dr. [Herbert] Lustig, and thats what it took, you know, to get to this place where I felt like I could share this story. Relatives and other interested parties (detectives, doctors, attorneys, etc.) 2023 Independent Television Service (ITVS). I felt like I couldnt escape my trauma. "I'm not looking to point fingers and call out monsters and come at it with a need for vengeance. After scoring very high marks on his standardized tests after Kindergarten, Sasha began displaying frequent withdrawal episodes. This is not a Jewish, Christian, black, white, gay, straight issue. I did not choose my trauma, nor have I chosen to be defined by it. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter, Sasha Joseph Neulinger digs into the story of his own childhood sexual abuse in his debut doc, 'Rewind.'. 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. Minutes earlier, they were having Uncle/Nephew time in the bedroom, behind closed doors. Through the steps we take, we earn that shift in perspective: to see the scale of our lives independent of the trauma we experienced. / Sasha Joseph Neulinger Is a Survivor of . Then something happened. Following the director, who was repeatedly sexually abused by his fathers side of the family as a child, Neulinger revisits his dad Henrys home film canisters, reopening old wounds. Explaining this change is present-day footage in which Sasha interviews others, leaning largely on conversations with his mother, Jacqui. Neulinger, now 29, said he was sexually abused by two uncles and a cousin as a child growing up in Pennsylvania. He had stored well over 200 tapes. His film about his experiences, "Rewind," which played the Tribeca Film Festival last year, makes its TV debut on PBS' "Independent Lens" on May 11. He tried to live a normal kid's life but was dying inside. Jacqui noticed his genitals didnt look quite right. Watching the home videos incorporated with the film which also features interviews with his psychiatrist, the prosecutor and detective on his case, his parents as well as others gave him an opportunity to revisit his childhood and a chance to look at how his past affected him and how it has shaped him as an adult, he said. See An INCREDIBLE Snippet HERE! Because they had been overshadowed by the trauma. Be more independent. The first, Howard, was the famed cantor of New York Citys Temple Emanu-El, and the favored son in their mothers eyes. Outside of classes he fly fished blue-ribbon trout streams, hiked countless peaks, and began to explore what brought him joy in life. But by sharing his story with the world, he is working to empower survivors to look inward and recognize their strength. As is so depressingly often the case, it was part of a family tradition, since Henry spent his childhood being sexually assaulted by both Larry (who was apparently trying, in his own warped way, to express love) and Howard (who was primarily interested in asserting vicious domination over his siblings). Parallel to interviews with city officials who reconstruct an infuriating case of justice denied, the film offers another conversation. 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. With each rape, I felt increasingly numb. But there was still more work to be done. On May 11, 2020, REWIND had its U.S Television Premiere on PBSs Independent Lens, bringing the film into 280 million households nationwide. 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. 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. If nothing else, I felt the film might help someone else. Get to know Maria Morales: CAC Family Advocate, A Conversation with Ashleigh Shea: Forensic Interviewing at the CAC, Giving Hope: The Childrens Advocacy Center. 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. And in rewatching my childhood memories and moments, I got to realize something I couldnt possibly understand as a child who felt dirty, disgusting, unlovable, and that is that I never lost what made me beautiful. This interview has been edited and condensed. Through embracing my fear and confronting what scared me the most, I rediscovered my beauty and learned to harness my power. REWIND had its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Apart from select recollections of detailed descriptions from a few personal accounts, the doc makes a point not to overplay its potentially explicit nature. 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. His Uncle Larry Nevison was sentenced to 14-22 years in prison, and served 11 years. Sifting through 700 hours of film footage, including 200 hours of home video, Sasha Neulinger has been rewatching his childhood for the last four years to create a documentary, . Thus Rewind, was spawned, a seven-year project that started when Neulinger was still a film student at Montana State University. 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. Your Neighbors. Sasha Joseph Neulinger. It was something that became intrusive to me, because it was constant and it felt to me like I lost my husband. My kids that we plan to have one day are going to be die-hard Flyers fans. Henrys home movies show a kindergarten-age Sasha as playful and family-oriented; a year later, the boy has put on substantial weight, frowns constantly and erupts in hard-to-process dark emotions. In response to his experience, Sasha decided to direct REWIND, an autobiographical documentary following his journey to confront, unpack and understand the multi-generational child sexual abuse that haunted him and his family. But the abuse didnt stop there. Actor: Shallow Hal. All Rights Reserved. M&H, which stands for milk and honey, is Israels first whisky distillery, and the only one that has won awards. The final message is that children can heal from abuse, but only if its recognized and they can talk about it, and as adults, we need to help them let go of this secret and give them the support they need so they can heal.. 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. Neulingers father is one of the more remarkable figures in this film. Like many documentaries (Capturing the Freedmans and Escaping Neverland come to mind), this one also raises questions about memory (its distortions); the thin line between private and public arenas; self-revelation and exhibitionism. One day, while being bathed, he screamed in pain. Im going to live in Montana for the rest of my life. Help bring programs like Independent Lens to your PBS station. reveal to Sasha their side of the situation. And when I was able to act, I was able to express my emotions, but do it in an alternative universe. Its a part of his past from which Neulinger has spent years healing, and now he wants to share it with the world with the hopes that it will help others heal as well. 2.4K. Sasha Joseph Neulinger (born 1989) is an American actor and director born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Notable people and events in the Jewish LA community. Sifting through 700 hours of film footage, including 200 hours of home video, Sasha Neulinger has been rewatching his childhood for the last four years to create a documentary, Rewind to Fast-Forward. It was after watching the first six tapes that I realized that this was going to be a film, he said, as for every answer I received about my past, 10 new questions would arise.. "The only way I could understand or see myself is dirty, gross, bad, unloveable," he said. Rewind initially was slated to open in Los Angeles theaters on April 3, with a national rollout to follow, but because of the COVID-19 outbreak, it was pushed onto a digital platform. I mean, theres a lot of vulnerability there. Twice exceptional (2e) stands for gifted with disabilities or learning differences. And Temple Emanuels position was not peculiar to Temple Emanuel. 3 Signature Oner, the MCUs First F-bomb and Star-Lords Most Emotional Scene, Amazon Studios Nabs J.J. Abrams, Imaxs The Blue Angels Documentary, TaikaWaititi in Talks to Direct Klara and the Sun Adaptation, Oscars: Film Academy Enacts Sweeping Reforms of Campaign Rules in Response to Andrea Riseborough Controversy, Pedro Pascal in Talks for Gladiator Sequel, Zoey Deutch Joins Nicholas Hoult in Clint Eastwood Legal Drama Juror No. "After 13 years of fighting to get my life back, the war was finally over," he said. Nevison was released on $100,000 bail after a Wednesday evening court appearance. I continued to feel dirty, unlovable and responsible for what happened to me. At that moment, the world became a dark place and I felt dirty.. Hes a genuine profile in courage, finding the strength to do whats right for himself, and his beloved sibling, not only from within, but from those family members who truly cared about himnone greater than his maternal great-grandfather Joseph, who learns, in the films tear-inducing centerpiece, that young Sasha is casting aside his painful past by taking Josephs surname as his own. Streaming on Hulu, nominated for three Emmy Awards. (Step 1 Films) Ultimately, we learn that Sasha was abused between ages three and seven by his father. 816 1 h 26 min 2020 13+ Sasha's Story - Leaving Ground Zero Header, Sasha's Story - Revisiting the Past Header, Sasha's Story - A New Path Forward Header. The utter honesty behind these scenes could only be captured in a documentary. YOUR RATING. What is it that tinges even. 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. Theres deep fear. Whats more difficult is following exactly how things played out in the legal system. For as long as Neulinger can remember, a video camera was ever-present, with his father constantly filmingfrom birthday parties and hockey games to holidays. One day, Sasha began grabbing at Bekah, his little sisters chest in the back of the car, something he saw as nothing more than a harmless titty twister. His mother, Jacqui asked why he was acting so aggressively. 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 . 7.9 /10. Sasha Neulinger shared his story of overcoming child sexual assault, and the importance of having organizations which help victims, like CASA and CAPstone, at the 14th annual Light of Hope event . Sasha Joseph Neulinger is the co-founder and head of production at Step 1 Films where he produces content for commercial clients nationally. The use of old home movies to show how Neulingers life was transformed, however dramatic, is just the start here, as this was a family with plenty of pain to uncover and one whose suffering would be exacerbated by a powerful religious community that, for once in stories like this, isnt the Catholic Church. Shortly before Sasha turned 17, Howard's attorneys ran out of delays, and discussions of a plea agreement commenced. There is nothing easy about facing severe trauma, but the reclamation of ones life in the face of adversity makes reaching the summit of that personal mountain that much more meaningful and empowering. Lawrence Nevison, 55, who is Howard Nevison's brother and also an uncle of the boy, and Lawrence Nevison's son,. 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. Uncle Howard Nevison, a prominent Manhattan Jewish cantor, used defense attorneys to drag out the legal process, filing multiple motions over many years. He was present when interacting with others; he was gifted and joyful. Its just easier to say something didnt happen than to acknowledge the possibility that a cantor abused a child. In that regard, Rewind delivers in spades. Prior to the #Metoo movement, the cultural climate was not predisposed to believe a child accuser and was, in fact, hostile toward him, Neulinger said. 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. 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.