A DOCUMENTARY from a Jersey-born filmmaker and daughter of a police inspector about how officers deal with ‘constant exposure to trauma’ has been screened this week.
Melissa De Freitas said After the Sirens was ‘extremely personal’ to her and inspired by her father, long-serving police officer Inspector Manny De Freitas.
The 20-minute film, which was made in the wake of the Haut du Mont explosion, explores themes such as mental resilience, stigmas associated with the police, individual coping mechanisms, multiculturalism within the force, and dealing with PTSD.
Miss De Freitas (21) this week held an ‘intimate, local premiere’ of her film After the Sirens with the cast of the film and close family and friends – after which it will be available for Islanders to stream online.
Its aim, she said, ‘is to begin to spark conversation locally, giving a voice to this under-represented topic, and then continue to grow this conversation more nationally and internationally’.
She continued: ‘After positive and empowering receptions so far within the Force and university faculty, I have entered it into film festivals across the UK, Europe and Canada.’
Miss De Freitas undertook the project as part of the filmmaking module of her final year of study for an undergraduate degree in Dance and Film & Visual Culture, for which she achieved a First Class Honours.
She added: ‘I would hope this coverage would allow citizens of Jersey to have a glimpse of their police force in a way they perhaps haven’t considered before, exposing the more vulnerable and emotive areas of the job.
‘This project is extremely personal to me, as it heavily features my dad, who received his long-service medal this June, which I was lucky enough to attend at Government House.
‘I am a big advocate of being proactive in the face of mental-health struggles, and, having been through some difficult moments myself, this film aims to reinforce and empower individuals to continue to normalise that it is okay to not be okay.’
