UALR’s Gender Studies Program, in conjunction with the Clinton School of Public Service, will screen a new, award-winning documentary “The Invisible War,” on Nov. 14, examining sexual assaults in the military. The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Kirby Dick, the documentary’s producer who has been nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy Award.

The groundbreaking investigative documentary will be screened at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of UALR’s Engineering and Information Technology Building. The event is is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Sarah Beth Estes at 501-569-3191.

“The Invisible War” looks into the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military, believed to be in the hundreds of thousands in the last decade. Today, a female soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

A staggering 20,000 soldiers are estimated to have been assaulted in 2009 alone. The documentary traces the powerful emotional stories of several young veterans and reveals the systemic cover-up of the crimes they have suffered and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and careers. Featuring hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress, the film urges us all – civilian and soldier alike – to fight for a system that no longer forces our military to choose between speaking up and serving the country.

“The Invisible War” won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Space Needle Award at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival. Dick’s other films include “Outrage,” an indictment of hypocrisy of closeted politicians; “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” an investigation of the secretive MPAA film ratings system; and “Twist of Faith,” the story of a man confronting trauma of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. Dick’s films have won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Grand Prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Co-sponsors for the UALR event include the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the School of Social Work, the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and the Office of Campus Life. KUAR is a media partner. Other sponsors are the Little Rock Film Festival, the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Arkansas Humanities Council, and Hendrix College Film Studies and Mellon Crossings programs.