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> By John Darling for the Mail Tribune September 14. 2014 2:00AM Filmmaker wants to break the cycle of rage Barbara Peeters of Phoenix is working on a documentary about abuse titled "Inheritance of Rage." Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Filmmaker-director Barbara Peeters of Phoenix has done scores of movies and TV shows, but it was her 1983 "Cagney & Lacey" episode “Cry for Help” that fired her up to eventually produce an exhaustive documentary on domestic violence. She's in the interviewing and writing stages of a feature-length documentary, “Inheritance of Rage,” in which she plans to capture the stories of victims, judges, cops and even abusers themselves. The TV episode was a ground-breaker, a risky jaunt into the realities of domestic violence that made the network and sponsors touchy, Peeters says. At the time it aired, statistics showed one in four women were abused. Now, she says, it’s one in three. “Until then, the public thought it was truck drivers, welfare losers and cowboys who did all the beating of wives and kids,” she says. “People thought they knew about it, but they don’t. Law enforcement, medical, lawyers — the very fields an abused woman has to turn to — these are the ones doing it the most.” Over the last three years, Peeters has interviewed two dozen people as part of her research. She wants viewers of the documentary to understand that “it’s a disease that’s killing people and that gets passed from generation to generation.” To fund production of the film, Peeters ran a 30-day campaign last fall on Indiegogo, raising $3,144 against a goal of $19,000. Her present campaign, which ends Sept. 26, has raised $695 on a goal of $6,000. She estimates the entire budget will be $250,000. The film will delve into the history and consequences of domestic violence — along with possible solutions — she says, and is designed to be viewed most by law enforcement, colleges and health care professionals. It will be released by her SilverFoxx Films. Peeters believes the problem of domestic violence is compounded by light sentences, plea bargaining, lack of arrests, stereotypes that abused women are on drugs and by a society that says a woman with an abusing partner can and should “just leave,” thereby making it her problem. “Why don’t they just leave? Because there are children involved, and women fear for their children, as well as being killed themselves,” she says. The film’s title, “Inheritance of Rage,” gets at the problem that children who are abused or witness abuse tend be full of fear and anger and will often grow up to be abusers and victims themselves. Working on the film, learning all the new developments in the field and especially interviewing survivors is all quite painful, she says. “I’m hoping beyond hope” to get it funded, to get partnerships for production and distribution and move onto writing a humorous novel, she adds. Peeters, an Iowa native with a theater arts degree from University of Iowa, is best known as director of the sci-fi B-movie “Humanoids From the Deep,” which earned $3 million at the box office and remains a cult classic. According to her IMDb.com profile, it’s about half-man, half-fish mutations from the ocean that kill and rape humans onshore. Other works are “The Dark Side of Tomorrow,” “Bury Me an Angel,” “Summer School Teachers” and “Starhops.” Over 46 years in Hollywood, she directed more than 100 television shows, including episodes of "Falcon Crest," "Remington Steele" and "Matt Houston." Reach freelance writer John Darling at [email protected]. Domestic violence facts IPV (Intimate Partner Violence), which includes stalking and sexual violence, affects 20 Americans a minute. Gender matters: Nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men experience domestic violence other than rape at some time in their lives. Youth matters: 79 percent of female victims report rape before age 25, while 28 percent of male victims report rape before age 10. Money matters: Women with household income above $50,000 report much less IPV, 2.8 percent; 5.9 percent of women with income from $25,000 to $50,000 report abuse; 9.7 percent of women earning less than $25,000 report abuse. Orientation matters: Half of bisexual women have been raped, along with 1 in 8 gay women and 1 in 6 hetero women. With men, half of bisexuals, 2 in 5 gays, 1 in 5 heterosexuals have been raped. The ripple effect: 27 percent of women and 12 percent of men, after contact violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, report post-traumatic stress disorder or injury. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140914/NEWS/140919852 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->