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.
Monroe Martin III, Shalita O'Neale, Amanda Byrd, Rob Scheer, Shenandoah Chefalo, Robert Matthews, Richard Barth, Diane Redleaf, Judith Schagrin, Judith Sandalow, Sandy Santana, Eduardo Ferrer

Aileen Wuornos remains a rarity: a female serial killer. From childhood abuse to death-row revelations, this documentary revisits her life and crimes.
2025

Mariam, Asiya, and Anissa were 11, 7, and 5 years old when they were raped. The attackers were their paternal uncle, a neighborhood youth, and the nanny's son. They have no memory of the event. To protect them, their bodies developed traumatic amnesia. Years later, the memories returned, and they decided to file a complaint.
2025

2024

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.
2023

Preschool to Prison is a compelling examination of how the United States public school system is built and operated like prisons. Zero-tolerance policies are used to justify suspension and arrests that set up a pathway to send children of color and children with special needs from school to prison. Children are being suspended, restrained, dragged, physically manhandled, and subsequently arrested for minor offenses such as throwing candy on a school bus. These personal accounts from people affected by the school-to-prison pipeline give riveting tales about the generational impact on society.
2023
The four adult heroes and heroines of the film, who were selected in a casting call posted on TV, speak candidly on camera from the very beginning of their memories. Through individual stories, they describe their childhoods, family backgrounds, life at school, and how they spent their free time. The stories complement each other and are intertwined; we see emotions and hear things that reveal the horrific DNA of domestic violence. The documentary addresses the issue of abuse with an emphasis on the entire social environment of the victims and the societal underpinnings. Typical of domestic violence is that victims often hide it within themselves; they do not talk about it, and sometimes they do not even admit it. But in the documentary, they were determined to speak out.
2022

Julia always said that her upbringing as a biological child in a foster family was a happy time. But something is wrong. In The Foster Family, we follow director Julia's journey back in time, where she, together with her parents Ewa and Lennart and the foster child Patrik, recollect the shocking events that changed their lives over thirty years ago. The children are at the center of this strong, touching and warm documentary about a system where you can love, but not too much.
2022

On June 12, 2019, the Committee to Investigate Violence in Youth Care presented its final report. The conclusions were startling. Kim Feenstra set out to find out what progress has been made within the Youth Care system since then and ended up in a circle of grief and pain dominated by money, power and powerlessness. In her search, Kim Feenstra spoke to many people involved. The stories can be described as downright shocking. In many cases Youth Care appears to act as a revenue model that is exploiting parents and children. The complex system has only one entrance, but the exit is obstructed by all stakeholders who want to maintain their revenue model. The people who really matter, the parents and children, encounter a power block of inhuman proportions. A system dominated by money, power and powerlessness.
2022

The movie recalls children who suffered mental and physical harm both during the last century, particularly in religious orphanages, and during the time of early modernperiod witch-hunts. It shows that the mindsets and behavioural patterns of both time periods are more alike than one might think.
2020

Children as young as seven are being groomed to sell drugs for 'county lines' drugs gangs in towns and villages all over the UK. This film follows four young people trapped in this world.
2019

An investigation into the original 1993 Michael Jackson allegations brought by the Chandler family.
2019

A double story of music and companion; this documentary portraits two different and itinerant social bands.
2019

An exploration into why some children are severely damaged by early adversity while others are able to thrive. By revisiting childhood trauma victims profiled decades ago, we learn how their experiences shaped their lives as adults.
2018

Child abuse, mental illness, and forbidden love converge in this mystery involving a mother and daughter who were thought to be living a fairy tale life that turned out to be a living nightmare.
2017

An investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry.
2014

"Cut" is a documentary film by Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon which examines the subject of male circumcision from a religious, scientific and ethical perspective. Using cutting-edge research, in addition to interview footage of rabbis, philosophers, and scientists, Cut challenges the viewer to confront their biases by asking difficult questions about this long-standing practice.
2007

British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
2003

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.
2003
When Nina was 8 years old, the foster father's sexual abuse began. Nina tried to convince herself that this incomprehensible thing was not true.
1994
1982