A half-hour documentary film which celebrates foster youth, showing how school, extended-family and the kindness of strangers can help a child find their path in life. This film highlights the stories of two young women, Charell and Camilla, who end up in the NYC foster care system as youth but refuse to let their situation define them. Although their paths into foster care are strikingly different, both young women turn to school, friends, and their families- by-choice to create the support systems they need. Tackling issues such as substance abuse, parental incarceration, grief, and loss. Absence/Presence provides an inside look into the impact of the foster care system through the eyes of those who have experienced it first-hand.
In this award-winning collection, Charell, Ashley and Camilla are former foster youth sharing their deeply personal stories about their experiences in foster care. Foster Care Film Series: Volume 1 celebrates the perseverance of these narratives, dispelling the negative stereo-types about foster care by showing how school, extended family and the kindness of strangers can help a child find their path in life.
Includes three films: Feeling Wanted (2015), My Identity (2016) and Family Rewritten (2017)
Study guides and bonus content also included.
Despite battling Cystic Fibrosis, Camilla, age 16, identified as a typical middle-class American teenager until the thread that held her family together suddenly snapped. Just months before her 18th birthday Camilla found herself in foster care, but instead of being ashamed, she made a conscious decision to not let the situation define her.
Charell, age 6, woke up to find herself alone. She made breakfast, dropped her baby sister off with a neighbor, and walked to school. With a dad incarcerated for murder, a mom on drugs & a childhood in foster care, Charell knew it was time to break the cycle.
Ashley, a young Native-American Caucasian girl, converts to Islam in hopes of finding structure in a life where it never existed, but with that decision comes the risk of losing one of the few biological connections she still has. "My Identity" tells the story of how race, religion, and family heritage can shape one's identity.
The Educator's DVD and Toolkit comes with an in-school/organization public screening license, as well as video extras, related articles, and individual study guides for:
1. foster youth (teens & young adults)
2. current & prospective foster parents
3. professionals (social workers, advocates, therapists, legal workers, and mentors)
Sold for $100 at the age of 5, Fekri suffers through years of abuse before his plight is discovered. After almost a year of hospitalization and therapy Fekri moves into a group home where he finds support, mentorship, and eventual forgiveness towards the family which sold him.
Note: Sales are restricted on this platform in the U.S., Canada or Mexico. If you're located in one of those countries please visit our educational distributor, Good Docs, to purchase an educational license of the film:
https://gooddocs.net/products/for-a-better-life