Imagine interviewing other Americans who share your own name. Imagine that over half of them are victims of rape, domestic violence or child molestation.
Hollywood screenwriter Angela Shelton performed this experiment for her documentary Searching for Angela Shelton and found tragedy in the lives of the women who share her name.
For the film, Shelton traveled cross-country and met with 40 Angela Sheltons. Of the 40, 24 were victims of rape, molestation or abuse. The film also tracks Shelton's personal journey in coping with her own childhood abuse. Many of the women offer not only anguishing stories but wisdom, counsel and hope.
Angela Shelton's career took her far from her abusive home. She went on to become a fashion model in Paris and New York. In 1995, she starred as the lead in Gavin O'Connor's Comfortably Numb, and in 1999 she co-wrote Tumbleweeds, an invigorating mother-daughter story that won accolades at Sundance. She also received stellar reviews for her adaptation of Kaye Gibbons' Charms for the Easy Life.
Searching For Angela Shelton has garnered various awards from around the country. More importantly, it has kindled a widespread grassroots movement. The Angela Shelton Foundation, dedicated to the survivors of abuse, was created in response to the film.
See Searching for Angela Shelton at 4 p.m. Sat. in the Culbreth Theater.
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