Yesterday, Theresa Godly’s short film highlighting parental alienation was shown to an audience of supporters who had helped make it happen. Almost 140 people, from crew to financial pledgers, from all over the world attended to watch the 15 minute flick based on her own real life experiences. How did it bear up? In short, incredibly well. With everybody applauding as soon as the credits started rolling, as each of them resonated with elements of the story as it played out.

On a personal level, I could fully relate to the film. I have been at both ends of the scope of parental alienation. It is a psychological abuse of powerplay by one parent in order to gain control and favour of a child over the other parent. I clearly remembered my mother saying bad things about my father when I was young. These things I would discover as falsehood as I reached adolescence. Not to mention having been moved 200 miles away from him at the age of four.

The sweeping score added another level to the already emotionally impacting story and it was very clever to convey all the emotions that come with PA into a 15 minute film along with outstanding raw performances. Shock, disbelief, pain, it was all channelled through the screen into the audiences minds.

#ParentalAlienation is an abuse, yet treated in family courts as a civil matter. What is civil about somebody reprogramming your mind to sever a healthy bond with a parent and their extended family? Countless people take their own lives every year due to this horrendous coercive control and it is civil?

Bullshit! Abuse is abuse, yet the courts see it as exempt because it isn’t a physical abuse. Every years, thousands lose all of their money in trying to combat the alienating parent’s actions. Some cannot get any legal aid at all.

It is with this film and causes like Parental Alienation Awareness that we wish to educate and spread awareness of this dreadful social issue. Theresa is currently raising money via crowdfunder in order to get The Stranger I Love into film festivals everywhere. If you can help, please pledge here https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tsil-festivals-marketing