Film featuring Jameis Winston's accuser shows in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE — For the 15 minutes of The Hunting Ground that details Erica Kinsman's alleged sexual assault by former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston and the handling of the case by Tallahassee police and the school, a crowd of around 100 sat silent.

Gathered in an AMC theater for a screening of the documentary about campus rape, a group of survivors and advocates saw her familiar story amid dozens of others like it from students around the country.

Kinsman's appearance in the documentary — which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was screened here for the first time on Thursday — was the first time she spoke publicly about the alleged assault. In a community where threats forced Kinsman to withdraw from school, that was noteworthy.

"This is the first time I've heard a positive interaction publicly about Erica in this town," said Kelly Otte, former director of Refuge House, drawing the loudest applause of the night during a discussion after the film. "In working in violence against women for 30 years, I have never heard the kind of reactions that this town had to her and the inability to even breathe an alternative point of view without being really slammed."

While the case against Winston features prominently in the film — which opens here Friday — director Kirby Dick hopes the community can see the case in the context of the many that are featured. Over 90 minutes, The Hunting Ground covers the handling of sexual assault cases at some of the nation's most prestigious universities, including Harvard, North Carolina and California.

Those schools, along with FSU, are among more than 100 universities under Title IX investigation by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for their handling of sexual assaults.

Included in the gripping stories from dozens of victims are current and former administrators and faculty who supported those students' assertions that their schools had mishandled their cases. The issue of campus sexual assault has gained national attention in the past year, thanks in part to survivor activists who have pushed their schools and the government for a better response.

"This is the way that, unfortunately, not just colleges and universities, but all institutions deal with a problem — they try to run from it," said Dick, who also directed The Invisible War about sexual assault in the military. "One of the things that shocked us was that even though there are obviously a lot of people within administrations that know this is a problem and are trying to do the right thing, there's a great deal of fear.

"What I'm hopeful for is that college presidents will start speaking out in front of cameras saying, 'I'm going to take responsibility for this. You can hold me accountable.' And while they're at it, I think they should apologize to the decades of survivors that have been assaulted on their campuses and their cases mishandled, and I'm talking about all presidents."

Dick said the response to the film, which he made with producer Amy Ziering, has been overwhelmingly positive. Around 150 screenings have been planned around the country.

Regardless of the conclusions members of the community have made about the case here, the film offers the first opportunity to hear Kinsman's story in her own voice.

Kinsman first reported the alleged assault in December 2012. A year later — after the TPD investigation sat dormant for nine months — the state attorney's office investigated and declined to file charges.

A January decision from former Florida Supreme Court Justice Major Harding concluded Winston did not violate the student conduct code, and that decision was affirmed by an FSU administrator earlier this month. Kinsman still has the option to seek judicial review, which her attorneys are considering.

She has filed a federal Title IX lawsuit against the school as well as a complaint with OCR. Kinsman left Florida State once the case became publicly known and she is continuing her education at a different university. Winston left school in January after leading FSU to the College Football Playoff semifinal. He is considered the likely No. 1 pick in next month's NFL draft.

Asked in the film if it's hard for her to believe all that has happened, Kinsman says, "I kind of just want to know like, why me? It doesn't really make sense."

Local advocates were hopeful the film could better inform opinions in the community which has had strong responses to the case in the past year.

A poll of 764 registered voters in the Tallahassee Division of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, where FSU would like Kinsman's lawsuit moved to, found that while the overwhelming majority (85%) generally believe women who report rape or sexual assault are telling the truth, a majority (51%) believed Kinsman is not. The poll, which was commissioned by Kinsman's attorneys for $5,000, found 24% believed she was telling the truth.

Jennifer Dritt, the executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual violence, has denounced the response to Kinsman in the past year but says she hopes the film can help viewers consider other perspectives.

"It personalizes it for people, but it also gives people I think in Tallahassee some distance as well," she said.

"It's going to be painful for people to see but I think they should see it. All of the statistics and all of the facts don't make a difference. People make a difference. People who have said terrible things about Erica can take a look at that and say, 'Oh, she could be my daughter. Or she could be my sister. Or she could be the person I know next door. Let me think about the things I've been saying.' "