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ABOUT THE FILM

“Hazing”, from award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt (director of “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” and “Soul Food Junkies”, both of which aired nationally on PBS), offers a deeply personal look inside the culture, tradition, and secrecy surrounding hazing rituals in fraternities and sororities, sports teams, marching bands, the military and beyond. Hurt, who belongs to a fraternity himself, talks to members of Black and historically white Greek-letter organizations and other groups that practice hazing, and gives voice to survivors of severe initiation rituals and the families of those who lost their lives. Expertly weaving these first-hand testimonies with insights from violence-prevention experts, the film provides a nuanced and empathetic portrait of a culture that can confer a sense of belonging even as it too often leads to violence, sexual degradation, binge drinking, institutional coverups, and debased notions of manhood. “Hazing” is an extraordinary teaching tool for educators and advocates working to reform hazing culture and combat violence – especially those interested in intersectional, bystander-based violence prevention approaches.