VCA’s Shannon Owens makes a powerful new film, Left Write Hook  

Shannon Owens is an educator at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and the filmmaker behind Left Write Hook, a compelling documentary that explores a groundbreaking program combining boxing and creative writing as a means of healing.

Premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in August, Left Write Hook was honoured as a joint winner of the Intrepid Audience Award.

The documentary was celebrated for its powerful portrayal of eight survivors of childhood sexual abuse engaging in this transformative program.

“I was pretty confident I could take a camera into that space and not be intrusive, but I think the profound thing that happened is that the participants found each other,” Shannon said. “They found a safe space to share experiences with other survivors, and that’s something they had never had before,” she said.

“Once they found that space and found each other, the camera disappeared.”

The unique support group was established by Donna Lyon a colleague of Shannon’s at the VCA, in 2019. 

What began as a casual “corridor conversation” about the possibility of a documentary, has evolved into a raw and poignant film that captures the survivors’ journeys as they confront and ultimately triumph over their trauma.

“I went out to the gym to observe what Donna was doing, and it was really quite amazing and profound. It was an incredible experience being in the space and observing the workshop in action,” Shannon said.

“The energetics of that environment and how the raw vulnerability of the participants shifted and transformed when they move from creative writing into the boxing part of the program, it was like a release,” she said.

“I was very moved by that first experience.”

Although Left Write Hook delves into challenging subjects and shares the “gut-wrenching” experiences of the program’s participants, it ultimately serves as a powerful celebration of their strength and resilience.

“Knowing that those kinds of abuses are happening every day, all around us, all the time - coming to terms with that was probably the hardest part of making the film for me,” Shannon told Southbank News.

A self-described “documentary nerd”, Shannon has been immersed in the field for more than 25 years and has taught at the VCA for the past 12 years. 

During her tenure, she has played a key role in developing documentary specialisations within the master’s degree program for Film and Television.

Shannon hopes that Left Write Hook will reassure survivors that they are “not alone” and demonstrate that it is possible to lead a better life, despite the challenges of navigating complex trauma.

“I’d also like the film to generate conversations beyond the survivor community. The statistics are so overwhelming about childhood sexual abuse,” she said.

“We all know survivors; we move among them every day. I think it’s a conversation that we all need to be having as a community, and we need to shift the responsibility for that discussion away from the children and our survivors and put it on the table as a pressing social issue that requires a collective response.”

Left Write Hook is currently playing in cinemas across Melbourne, with select screenings until November 28. •