By Shirley N Lew

AsAmNews New York Correpsondent

Jennifer Betit Yen’s The Opposite of A Fairy Tale is a narrative film inspired by the events of her late grandmother, Josephine Chuch Liu Yen, a victim of elder abuse.

According to the US government, victims are often neglected, abused or exploited. The sad part is that their abusers are often friends and family members that the victims had trusted.

When the victims are of Asian descent, the fear of shame and backlash prevents them from reporting their abuse. They fear the possibility of breaking the family apart if it is made known.

The film which is currently in pre-production hopes to bring greater awareness of the signs of elder abuse, empower victims to break free from their fear and to live a life they intended to live. It also hopes to bring increased attention to cases that are underreported in the Asian community.

Betit Yen received a grant from the Women’s Giving Circle to support her film, which already had its first reading last summer at the Asian American Asian Research Institute of CUNY (AAARI).

The cast for the film includes: Albert M. Chan, Amy Greenspan, Bradley Fong, Bruce Yang, Collin Heald, Craig Moruzzi, Daphne Macy, Deborah Kuhn, Fay Ann Lee, Grant Chang, Jennifer Betit Yen, J. Fay Yuan, Jo Yang, Les J. Mau, Liam Quill Kong, Marianne Cardenas, Nancy Marlowe Gordon, Nick Moss, Nikole Marone Gordon, Terence Clowe and Timothy Yang.

Youn Jung Kim is the director and Betit Yen is the screenwriter and producer. The film is expected to be completed in 2016.

Betit Yen is also the president of the Asian American Film Lab in New York.

If you have been affected by elder abuse, Betit Yen is asking you share your story here. If you wish to support the efforts being made on this film, please visit their fundraising page.

The Asian American Film Lab is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization devoted to the promotion and support of gender and ethnic diversity in film and television programming.