Champagne

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.

Beginnings

Foster Shock

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.

Leaving Beginnings Behind

In her most recent film, Linda Kallistová Jablonská observes three girls growing up in a residential facility in Počátky, Czech Republic, over the course of ten years. She explores their dreams about liberty, the reality they must face as well as their ideas about their own future families. The sequel to her first longitudinal documentary about Adéla, Denisa and Pavla captures the rocky road to independence after leaving the facility, their reconciliation with the past, job search, new relationships, small joys and big disappointments. Not only does the director draw an empathic portrait of three young girls with no-one to rely on but themselves; she also explores the ways in which public institutions form young people’s attitudes to life.

Love Recovered

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.

Kathleen is Here

18-year-old Kathleen is fresh out of foster care. Her departure coincides with the death of her biological mother, so she returns to her hometown to take ownership of her mother’s house. She gets a job and even a friend; but the emptiness of Kathleen’s life cannot be filled by social media and reality shows. Alone and desperate for a mother figure, she sets out on a destructive path to find one.

Lifemark

David's comfortable world is turned upside down when his birth mother Melissa unexpectedly reaches out, longing to meet the eighteen year old son she's only held once.

Per sempre

Short film about foster care promoted by TWINSET.

Bonkers

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.

Earth Mama

A pregnant single mother, with two children in foster care, embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family.

White Oleander

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

Home Sweet Home

Three postal workers and their dysfunctional families interact over cups of tea and Sunday dinner.

Color of Love

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.

Ayla: The Daughter of War

In 1950, amidst the ravages of the Korean War, Sergeant Süleyman stumbles upon a a half-frozen little girl, with no parents and no help in sight and he risks his own life to save her, smuggling her into his army base and out of harm’s way.

The Unloved

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.

Chosen

There are not many films that portray adoption and foster parenting in a positive light. CHOSEN does just that! This multi-plot film tells several incredible true stories of how one community makes a difference in the lives of foster kids.