Tuesday February 28 & Saturday March 4, 2006 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld
repeating Tuesday July 25 at 10pm PT & Saturday July 29, 2006 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld

This one hour 'point-of-view' documentary by filmmaker Cynthia Banks is a haunting, yet occasionally humorous personal account of the devastating long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse. Because it is drawn from her own life, Banks artistry, and the power of her raw emotions, make She's Only Six moving and compelling.

After giving birth to a daughter in 1995, Banks plunges into insanity, losing her ability to function and is forced to confront the secret demons of her past.  As she begins to challenge the intrusive childhood flashbacks of sexual abuse by her uncle, Banks must struggle to alleviate the shame, anger, and anxiety of what happened then, and the denial of what was happening 30 years later.

The biggest fight is in her own mind, when the lines of reality are blurred between past and present, mother and daughter, ally and perpetrator.  Her journey turns her comfortable sub-urban family life upside down and she must confront, change and re-build the relationship with her husband, children, parents, and self in order to survive.

With professional help, she stubbornly begins the healing of a broken spirit.

She's Only Six provides a rare autobiographical presentation of Banks' own childhood sexual experience using flashbacks from black and white 16 mm family footage and diary excerpts, and documents her descent into insanity and the struggle through the last decade with her husband and children by home video footage.  The realities of the affects of the abuse are exposed by interviews with her husband, best friend, and parents, as well as, raw conversations with her children.

By publicly exposing the realities of the abuse, She's Only Six addresses a significant mental health issue for Canadians.  The number of Canadians who experience childhood sexual abuse is alarmingly high.  Reported by the Ontario Health Supplement in 1991 from a random sampling of almost 10,000 people, 12.8% of females and 4.3% of males experienced childhood sexual abuse.  It is called the silent epidemic.

She's Only Six was written, produced and directed by Cynthia Banks, Banks Productions Limited in association with CBC Newsworld.  It was co-directed by Elizabeth Etue and Michael Grippo and edited by Deborah Palloway.