Private Project

"Do You See What I See"

“DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE” takes place in the 1970's in England at an all boys Catholic boarding school. The film is an allegory of the abuse within the Catholic Church, following a 9 year old boy who has been exposed to cruelty at the hands of the clergy. The story is told from Peter’s point of view, allowing for a subtle and quite symbolic telling of mistreatment and echoes the question- Do you see what I see? Or do you choose not to...?

  • Alexandra Neary
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 12, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Alexandra Neary

The film was shot in the UK by a 21 year old Canadian female filmmaker who wrote and directed this short. Alexandra decided to tell this story after hearing about her fathers experiences of mistreatment and abuse within the Catholic boys school he attended in the 60's. Alexandra has been making films since the age of 12, and made her first professional short at 17 which amassed over 1,000,000 views. Since then Alexandra has gone on to make 4 other shorts, with "Do You See What I See" being the most ambitious one yet.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My father was born in Ireland, and grew up in Manchester in the 1950’s. He was brought up Catholic, and like most boys around him was sent to an all boys catholic school from a young age.
His experience was not unlike most other boys, with the idea that they were there to be seen and not heard and to accept what went on without any questions to their superiors. He explained to me, in not much detail, that what happened to him and his peers was a “rite of passage.” I began to wonder what must’ve gone through those children’s minds. If they ever questioned what they experienced, what they saw, or if they simply compartmentalised those moments into the back of their minds. This is where the title, “Do You See What I See” came from, the open ended question directed at the church, peers, and anyone watching- including the viewer.

The film is told from the point of view of Peter as he navigates an experience that happened to his friend or possibly to him, that is left to the viewer to decide. The words, “Do You Hear What I Hear,” are echoed throughout the film multiple times- coming from the Christmas song titled the same. I grew up of course listening to classic Christmas songs, and this one always had a haunting quality to it that stuck with me. As I began writing the script for this film, I drew upon a lot of symbolism and as I played this song I began to see that the narrative of my film matched up with the narrative as well as symbolism within the lyrics. Each character within the song represented a character or moment with my film, almost pre-ordained- which is why I ended the film with the choir of abused boys singing this song to Peter.

This film has been a long time in the making, and will always be important to me- due to not only my father, but the countless boys and families affected by the Catholic Church.