Books, films and documentaries

These works may stir up personal experiences. Those with harder scenes or accounts say so. If you need to talk to someone, the Foundation can offer guidance. The list keeps growing: if you know a work that should be here, write to contacto@paralaconfianza.com.

Books

Testimonies

Instrumental · James Rhodes (2014). Blackie Books.
Memoir of a pianist who was a victim of sexual abuse from the age of six and found in music a way to survive and to tell his story.
Content note: raw account of the abuse and its effects on mental health.
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Mariposas en la escalera · Paulina Herrera Ponce. Editorial Forja. Foreword by José Andrés Murillo.
Novel based on real events about sexual abuse within the family and its aftermath, written by someone who lived through it.
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La niña liberada. Violencia sexual y poder · Iskra Pavez. Editorial Forja.
Testimony and essay on the abuse the author suffered at the hands of her father, the ambivalence of those around her when she disclosed it, and the hostility of the justice system.
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Abuso y poder (Abuse and power) · Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and José Andrés Murillo (2020). Debate.
Three survivors of the Karadima case tell of their path to being believed and to confronting the cover-up of a powerful institution.
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El consentimiento · Vanessa Springora (2020). Lumen.
How a renowned writer manipulated a 13-year-old girl and how the cultural world around him normalised it.
Content note: describes the abusive relationship.
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La familia grande · Camille Kouchner (2021). Península.
The incest committed by the author’s stepfather against her brother and the silence that surrounded it for years.
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Yo sé por qué canta el pájaro enjaulado · Maya Angelou (1969). Libros del Asteroide.
Childhood autobiography: after the abuse she suffered as a girl, the author stopped speaking for years and regained her voice through reading.
Content note: includes the rape she suffered as a girl.
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Tengo un nombre · Chanel Miller (2019). Blackie Books.
A young woman who was sexually assaulted recounts the trial and the media coverage. The victim is an adult, but the book shows how those who report are heard, or not.
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For understanding

Confianza lúcida · José Andrés Murillo (2012). Uqbar.
Trust, vulnerability and the conditions that make care possible. It is the backbone of the Foundation’s work.
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Trauma y recuperación · Judith Herman (1992). Eleftheria.
The study that described complex trauma and the stages of recovery: safety, remembrance and reconnection.
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Los patitos feos · Boris Cyrulnik (2001). Gedisa.
Resilience explained through relationships: a wounded childhood does not determine a whole life.
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El cuerpo lleva la cuenta · Bessel van der Kolk (2014). Eleftheria.
How trauma is held in the body and which paths help recovery.
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El drama del niño dotado · Alice Miller (1979). Tusquets.
How a child who adapts to the needs of adults loses touch with their own feelings, and how to recover it.
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Por tu propio bien · Alice Miller (1980). Tusquets.
The roots of violence in child-rearing and how it is justified as being “for their own good”.
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El dolor invisible de la infancia · Jorge Barudy (1998). Paidós.
An ecosystemic reading of child maltreatment: the family, the community and the institutions around the child.
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Los buenos tratos a la infancia · Jorge Barudy and Maryorie Dantagnan (2005). Gedisa.
Parenting, attachment and resilience: what children need to grow up well and how to support those who care for them.
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Rebaño · Óscar Contardo (2018). Planeta.
Investigative journalism on abuse in the Chilean Church and the networks that covered it up.
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For children and adolescents

Azul. Un cuento contra el abuso · José Andrés Murillo, illustrated by Marcela Paz Peña (2016). Lumen.
An illustrated story, told through metaphor, for talking with children about abuse and the right to be heard.
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¡Estela, grita muy fuerte! · Isabel Olid, illustrated by Martina Vanda. Tajamar Editores.
A girl learns from her teacher that she can shout if someone wants to hurt her, and she does. The abuse is only suggested; it is meant to be read with children.
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Habla · Laurie Halse Anderson (1999). Square Fish.
Young adult novel about a teenage girl who stops speaking after a rape and finds a way to speak again. Recommended from age 14.
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Films

Spotlight · Tom McCarthy (2015).
A team of journalists investigates the cover-up of abuse in the Boston Church. The abuse is told through testimony.
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Gracias a Dios (Grâce à Dieu) · François Ozon (2019).
Survivors of a priest in Lyon find each other, organise and break the silence.
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Les chatouilles · Andréa Bescond and Éric Métayer (2018).
Based on its author’s own story: a dancer who was a victim of abuse in childhood rebuilds herself through dance.
Content note: abuse scenes are suggested, not shown.
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Celebración (Festen) · Thomas Vinterberg (1998).
At his father’s birthday party, a son reveals the abuse he suffered and the family chooses not to listen.
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Speak · Jessica Sharzer (2004).
The film adaptation of Speak. Recommended from age 14.
Content note: a rape scene, without nudity.
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Trust · David Schwimmer (2010).
Online grooming of a 14-year-old girl and her family’s reaction.
Content note: includes a long, disturbing rape scene; for ages 16 and over.
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Documentaries

Procession · Robert Greene (2021). Netflix.
Six men who were victims of priests write and film scenes from their own story with a drama therapist, as part of their recovery.
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Examen de conciencia · Albert Solé (2019). Netflix.
Three episodes on abuse in Catholic institutions in Spain, told from the victims’ perspective.
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Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God · Alex Gibney (2012).
Deaf men who were victims of a priest at their school break the silence in sign language.
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Athlete A · Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (2020). Netflix.
How the US gymnastics federation protected for years the doctor who abused gymnasts, and how they exposed him.
Content note: the abuse is discussed explicitly.
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Tell Me Who I Am · Ed Perkins (2019). Netflix.
Twin brothers and the family secret one of them kept to protect the other.
Content note: explicit descriptions of the abuse; for ages 16 and over.
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The Keepers · Ryan White (2017). Netflix.
Seven episodes on the abuse committed by a priest at a Baltimore school and the former students who seek justice decades later.
Content note: detailed testimonies.
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