‘Beautiful documentary-making with the present tense narrative of the investigation’
BBC UK Insights Team for BBC
Described by one judge as “a proper ‘change the world’ film”, Sexsomnia highlights the difficult and horrifying trauma victims of rape face in reporting their crime.
Taking three years to make and with multiple obstacles thrown at it, including Covid, staff restructures and budget constraints, the producers remained steadfast in bringing protagonist Jade’s story to public attention.
Waking up half-naked and with little memory of the night before but feeling violated, Jade reports the man she believes raped her to the police. As the case makes it to court, a startling phone call changes everything: sex experts believe Jade had an attack of ‘sexsomnia’ a rare form of sleepwalking that causes people to have sex in their sleep. The defence said the suspect believe she was awake and consenting, resulting in the CPS dropping the case.
The documentary was originally commissioned due to Jade’s case being one of the few rape trials to go to court, but the acquittal of her rapist, the subsequent diagnosis and profuse apology from the CPS wasn’t a structure that producers had expected. At each turn the team were thrown unique curve balls and threats to the doc’s completion.
The doc sparked national discussion with debates on Breakfast to 5ive and Women’s Hour, with Labour MP Jess Phillips petitioning the Attorney General for a review of the system preventing rape victims from coming forward.
“Brave and compelling filmmaking; this low-budget film made an extraordinary impact on the national conversation,” said one judge, while another prasied it for blending “beautiful documentary-making with the present tense narrative of the investigation”.
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Sky for Sky Documentaries
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Zandland for Channel 4
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