‘Angry Tears’ draws crowd to premiere
By Sean Barron
NILES
How do you heal from years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, along with betrayal, feeling unloved, losing one of the few people you trust and attempting suicide?
If you’re like evangelist Earlina D. Gilford-Weaver, a big part of the answer lies in an unwavering belief in God, as well as finding the power to forgive.
And having a film based on a book you wrote about your life’s traumatic experiences certainly doesn’t hurt.
“The film was healing for me and my sister, and I know our mom had been through a lot,” Gilford-Weaver said after Sunday’s red-carpet premiere of “Angry Tears” at Encore Cinema in the Great East Plaza adjacent to Eastwood Mall.
A full house saw the two-hour film that featured local actors and was based on Gilford-Weaver’s 2010 autobiography, “Who Will Wipe My Tears Away?” which chronicles abuse she suffered from childhood through adulthood while in the foster-care system, as well as from a few church officials.
Compounding Gilford-Weaver’s agony was learning her brother, one of the few people she trusted, had been killed.
She also suffered extreme mental abuse at the hands of her mother, and a turning point for Gilford-Weaver, who’s also the film’s executive producer and co-writer, was reading her late mother’s diary and finding the strength to forgive her mother, who endured abuse herself.
“I saw my mother’s letter, and it gave me thoughts that she loved me,” said Gilford-Weaver’s younger sister, Snetha Davis-Stanford of Youngstown, who also attended Sunday’s premiere.
Davis-Stanford added that she’s been drug free about six years and uses her experiences to counsel women in jail or on the streets who are trying to recover from abuse and drugs to turn their lives around.
“I want people to know, don’t ever give up,” she said.
Also proud to be part of the “Angry Tears” project was David L. Walker, a Niles-based filmmaker who served as director and co-writer.
Walker, who also owns Walk-Star Inc., a videography company, said that Gilford-Weaver had seen a film he had made about domestic violence, after which he read her story and was deeply moved.
“I read her book, and it blew me away about the details regarding her abuse,” he recalled.
Walker also stressed that victims of violence and abuse who speak out almost always feel empowered because their secret no longer controls or has power over them.
“The more secrets you save, the more your soul is weighted down,” he added.