The Cucumber Incident

From Delaware, Ohio, to the Montel Williams television show, The Cucumber Incident is the true-life account of a family's unconventional struggle for justice

After they learn that one of their youngest members, a five-year-old girl, was being sexually molested by her stepfather, the girl's grandmother, sister-in-law, and daughters act out an odd and impassioned act of retribution against the molester in their midst (wielding a cucumber as their weapon).

The band of women soon found themselves charged with kidnapping and rape, then thrown into a dizzying maze of media sensationalism and legal nightmares.

Now based in Los Angeles, filmmakers and former Columbus residents Bonita Makuch and Melodie Calvert (who was then associate curator of media arts at the Wexner Center) gained intimate access to all the participants in this bizarre tragedy. Tonight they introduce the screening and share their stories from this strange journey. (77 mins.)