Relative is an intimate and artful exploration of the complexity of identity, memory, fear and love.

 

When filmmaker Tracey Arcabasso Smith confronts her childhood sexual abuse, she unearths a pervasive history of multigenerational abuse in her seemingly idyllic family, forcing her to make an impossible decision: to stay silent and let the cycle continue, or to speak up and risk losing the family she loves.

 

SYNOPSIS: This beautifully nuanced, deeply personal documentary journeys across four generations of an Italian-American family as they unpack multigenerational sexual abuse, one conversation at a time. Smith weaves stirring home movies with candid interviews, constructing an intimate yet poetic exploration of what it looks and feels like to break the silence on trauma. Each story gives way to the intricacy of human experience: examining the spaces between judgment and verdict, shame and blame. This is not just a story of one family but one of countless stories all over the world that are sitting in silence. Relative is a first-hand exploration of the complexity of abuse and the power of voice in