Leaving Beginnings Behind(2021)

Where's Foster?(en)

Social workers dispel myths about why children are removed from their biological parents, breaking down their overwhelming workload. Lawyers uncover the harsh reality of young children navigating the legal system. Advocacy organizations try to keep children safe and away from predators. An eclectic array of interviews from foster care alumni explore their connections (or lack thereof) with social workers, the fragile bond with each foster home, how trust can fall apart, and how those unable to adapt spent time in group homes. The film concludes with alumni success stories, working to remove the stigma of foster care.

Beginnings(cs)

Foster Shock(en)

Takes a first hand look at what happens to children when they are taken from their abusive families and become dependents of the State of Florida. 'Foster Shock' examines Florida's 'privatized' foster care system. It explains the Community Based Care (CBC) concept: how CBC's were designed to work for the child's benefit and why they are off course. 'Foster Shock' examines the massive amounts of taxpayer dollars being spent with little oversight and accountability, in addition, how this has lead to an over reliance on group homes, many of which are for profit. Through personal stories told by former foster youth, this film allows the audience an opportunity to hear heart wrenching accounts of how Florida has failed its children. 'Foster Shock' also shares interviews with Florida's professional experts in child welfare. This film also showcases a Florida CBC that has shown measurable success in child placement, staff turnover and permanency.

Untold Secrets(en)

Gives voice to the experiences of Irish institution survivors and focuses on the life and upbringing of one survivor, Anne Silke. Silke was fostered out of the St. Mary, Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam at the age of 9 to the Killileas, a prominent political family from Tuam. Untold Secrets recounts her often brutal and abusive treatment at the hands of her foster family and reveals never seen before interviews with fellow survivors. Although Silke is now deceased the documentary gives a posthumous voice to Anne and possibly some closure to her family.

Attila(en)

Filmmaker Stephen Hosier takes a journey with Richard Csanyi, his childhood friend, as he investigates the life and death of his twin brother Attila, who was found dead on a rooftop in 2020.

She Is Us: The Story of Judge Songhai Armstead(en)

SHE IS US: THE STORY OF JUDGE SONGHAI ARMSTEAD is an animated film that chronicles the extraordinary story of social justice warrior Songhai Armstead who was system impacted, faced systemic obstacles, and found purpose in empowering others. After a challenging childhood in foster care, Songhai embarks on a remarkable journey that shows the importance of creating opportunities. The film is a production of The Righteous Conversations Project and Second Nurture, a non-profit organization that mobilizes communities to support foster families and help children thrive. She is Us was directed by Samara Hutman & C. Lily Ericsson and animated by an extraordinary team of young people who know the potential of art and story to shape our world.

Champagne(en)

The true story of a young teenage girl whose mother is incarcerated for murder. Living in a Catholic Children's home run by an order of nuns, she provides poignant commentary about her mother, her own situation and her outlook for the future.

Boj o děti(cs)

The Language of Flowers(en)

After being released from the foster care system, a young woman finds work in a flower shop, where she changes the lives of others while working to overcome her own troubled past with her foster mother. Based on the NY Times bestseller.

Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot(en)

Led by Donna and Reverend W.C. Martin, 22 families from a rural Black church in the small East Texas town of Possum Trot adopt 77 of the most difficult-to-place kids in the foster system and kickstart a movement in the process.

The Undertaker's Children(en)

Inspired by real events, a reclusive undertaker is forced to take in the children of a deceased distant relative. When the older sister uncovers her sinister plan to get rid of them, she contacts a child welfare nurse, pleading for help. As things escalate, the girl has no choice but to escape with her brother before helps arrives, unleashing an evil that knows no bounds in the process.

Bonkers(nl)

Bonnie, a nine-year-old single child, is part of a family of three living in the Netherlands. They have a love of elephants, passed on by Bonnie's grandfather's grandfather who worked on a game reserve in Africa, and Bonnie feels that she instinctively does things like an elephant as a result. Her single mother, Lis, is bi-polar and at times spends days on end without even getting out of bed. Then there are other times when she will manically do wild acts, such as impromptu dancing in public. As a result, Bonnie's sturdy and stable grandmother must hold the family together by doing all the cooking, etc. After her grandmother is killed by a car, Bonnie becomes the most responsible family member and struggles with preparing meals and getting her reluctant mother to take her medication. She also must dodge Jorien, a social worker who is attempting to place her in a foster home.

Per sempre(it)

Short film about foster care promoted by TWINSET.

White Oleander(en)

A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.

Age Out(en)

Fresh out of foster care at age 18, a young drifter turns to petty crime to survive, and discovers an impossible love in an unlikely friend.

September 13, 2004(en)

A 17-year-old kid from South Chicago coexists with his selfish foster mother. On his way to school with his best friend, they discover something that will change their lives forever.

Love Recovered(en)

A grieving mother who suffered the tragic loss of her daughter must decide if she can provide a loving home to a child who's lost her parents.

The Unloved(en)

Lucy is eleven years old. Having been neglected by her estranged mother and father, she is placed in a children's home. Through her eyes, we follow her struggle to cope with the system; her only saving being her self-belief and certainty that she is being watched over and protected by the holy spirit.

10½(fr)

Tommy, 10 years old, is well known by Social Services. He is considered a danger to society. Gilles, his guardian at this halfway house, sees potential for redemption in this kid driven by violence.

Color of Love(en)

An African American widow with two kids who has so much love to give, she often fosters children who need a home. She finds out that Peter and Rachel, the white siblings she fostered twice before, fled from their latest foster home.