Code of Silence (2014) Online

Code of Silence (2014) Online

'Code of Silence' is an award winning one-hour observational documentary that follows the parallel journeys of a fervently Orthodox Jewish father and his now-secular son, after the son breaks the code of silence in Melbourne's Chabad-Lubavitch community going public with his story about being sexually abused as a student. Manny Waks demands the perpetrators be brought to justice, as well as the rabbis, whom he claims covered it up. His father Zephaniah, who claims he has been virtually excommunicated for informing secular authorities, demands his name be publicly cleared. But what price will the father and son pay for blowing the whistle on the leaders of this powerful Jewish sect? This is a deeply personal journey filled with intimate, emotionally charged and candid behind-the-scenes moments of two people waging the fight of their lives.

Code of Silence won Australia's top documentary prize, the Walkley Award. The Judges' comments were: "Code of Silence is a documentary exposure of an Orthodox Jewish family's distressing struggle to tell the truth about child sexual abuse within a well-known Melbourne boys' school. The work is exceptional because of the access negotiated with key players as the drama unfolded. It contributes to public understanding of the magnitude of the failure across institutions, both religious and secular, to protect children because of a more dominant reputational defensiveness. Through actuality and interview, the documentary effectively breaks the "code of silence" which had prevailed to cover up abuse in this close-knit community".