From despair to redemption: The remarkable survivors

It leaves a broken place inside that never truly heals.And for many it is still a secret, unspoken.

But a new film hopes to break the silence around childhood sexual abuse.

Survivors Rowe is a documentary that justpremiered at Hot Docs in Toronto, one of North America's largest documentary festivals.It profiles the lives of three men whose lives were torn apart by the same man an Anglican priest named Ralph Rowe.

• On Unreserved; RosannaDeerchild talks to John Fox about Survivors Rowe

The charismatic Boy Scout leader flew into remote Ontario First Nation communities during the 1970s and 80s. He gained the trust of elders and parents who revered him as a man of God, and children who adored him for his plane tricks and games.

But Rowe had a dark side. In the 70's and 80'she sexually abused as many as 500 boys.

Children, once filled with light, fell into darkness and despair. If they made it to adulthood, many battled addictions, abuse, suicide attempts and denial.

Rowe, now 75, was eventually convicted of more than 50 sex-related crimes. He served less than five years in jail. A 2012 conviction on an additional seven counts of sex-related crimes dating back to the same time period yielded a two-year conditional sentence.

But this film is not so much about Rowe as it is about the survivors.

One of those survivors is John Fox. He grew up in Big Trout Lake First Nationin northern Ontario and remembers snowshoeing with his dad, fishing and hanging out with his friends.That all changed when Ralph Rowe came to his community.

He shares his story on Unreserved and tells us why he forgave Ralph Rowe.

Filmmaker Daniel Roher calls Rowe's crime and the silence around it, "agreat injustice."In this online interview we speak to Roher about how the film shows the strength of the survivors and the triumph of reclaiming their lives.

• Online interview with Survivors Rowe filmmakerDanielRoher

The documentary plays in Thunder Bay onMay 9.

Also on Unreserved

Mtis poet Katherena Vermette talks about her home the heart of the continent: Winnipeg's North End.

And Saving our walking wounded from the casket of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.A unique art project in B.C., aims to commemorate fallen Afghanistan veterans and save those still suffering from witnessing war.

Our special series, siylexwe: takes us tothe Sto:lo Elders Lodge in Chilliwack.It's the only one of its kind in B.C.an assisted living facility exclusively for aboriginal seniors.

We'll hear music from Indian City, Nick Shermanand Inez Jasper.

Tune into CBC Radio One after the5 p.m.news in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nunavut, and after the4 p.m.news in Yukon and the N.W.T.for these stories and more on Unreserved.

You can alsolisten on demand.