For Aishah Simmons, It took 11 years to get the story just right.
It wasn't that Simmons, who wrote, produced and directed "No! The Rape Documentary," couldn't get enough sources to talk to; her documentary was lined up with people willing to share their chilling testimonies.
She had done projects like this before and felt more than qualified to do another one.
And it certainly wasn't the subject matter-that was all too familiar.
On Monday, about 35 people gathered at Gainesville's Civic Media Center to see her finished product. The event was put on by the Gainesville chapter of National Organization for Women and by Gainesville's Women Liberation.
The 94-minute film, released in 2006, discusses the topic of sexual assault through the perspective of African-Americans. Simmons' work also discusses the connection between rape and homophobia.
Her mother, Gwendolyn, a professor in the religion department at UF, spoke to the audience before the screening about her daughter's effort behind the project.
"I was like 'why don't you just say it's finished?'" she told the audience in reference to the time it took for her daughter to finish the project. "She said 'no,' and I'm glad she did."
Although the film places a predominant emphasis on the African-American perspective, she said that the message was universal.
"This is something that has affected a lot of women everywhere," she said.
The younger Simmons, who on the documentary's official Web Site states that she was a victim of rape and incest, used information provided by historians, violence prevention advocates, sociologists and other scholars, along with vivid depictions, to give a blood-curdling illustration of the effects of rape.
The film has received praise from many colleagues, including Alice Walker, author of the best-selling novel "The Color Purple."
Walker said in her review of the documentary, ""If the Black community in the Americas and in the world would save itself, it must complete the work this film begins."
Nickos Koutsodimos, a Gainesville resident who frequently comes to the Civic Media Center's weekly screenings, was caught off guard when he found out the evening's topic.
After watching it for a few minutes, however, Koutsodimos joined the ranks of those praising the film's work.
"I like it; the historical approach is interesting," he said during a brief break in the film. "I am curious for what's next."
