Jacqueline Rosenthal’s short film, Backlog, puts the spotlight on an issue you may not know exists…no one except those betrayed by an incompetent system devoid of compassion.
Based on actual events, Backlog tells the 2006 story of sexual assault victim Mallory Newell (Jill Renner). The short film is bookended by Newell’s testimony before a 2010 Senate Judiciary Hearing. During her testimony, we flashback to a college party where she was drugged and raped by a sexual predator at the party.
The next morning Newell is forced to relive the event during police questioning and the hours-long rape kit procedure. As the investigation continues, Newell is ostracized from her friend group for “snitching.” When the assailant lawyers up, the police place Newell’s rape kit on backlog, where years later, it remains unprocessed for lack of funds.
“…flashback to a college party where she was drugged and raped by a sexual predator at the party.”
Backlog will most like make you very angry at a justice system that cares very little about justice for women. Along with a riveting performance by Jill Renner as Newell, filmmaker Rosenthal delicately recounts Newell’s assault, the humiliating examination process, the social backlash against survivors, and the difficulty of prosecuting assailants for more reasons than just lack of witness testimony.
The more significant issue at hand is the backlog of over 100,000 untested rape kits that still go unprocessed today. The frustration comes not in the fact that politicians claim to care about the ramifications of sexual assault and are willing to throw money at it, but, as the film states, most of this earmarked money is never used.
Backlog is highly effective in not only bringing awareness to the injustice against women, which has not changed over the decades, but shows how the politicians who set the rules and priorities of justice don’t care unless it gets them votes.
For more information about Backlog and what can be done regarding the rape kit backlog, visit backlogfilm.org.
