"13TH" A film by Ava DuVernay
Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.
Available on Netflix. Please find educational resources here.
Films tell the stories of children dealing with adoption, foster care, and new family situations, and of the parents, officials, and social workers with whom they engage.
College Behind Bars: A Film by Lynn Novick
Explore the transformative power of education through the eyes of a dozen incarcerated men and women trying to earn college degrees – and a chance at new beginnings – from one of the country’s most rigorous prison education programs.
Broken Places, (Amazon Prime) a unique time-lapse perspective of children in the child welfare system and the adults they evolved into today.
The Trials of Gabriel Hernandez (2020 Netflix mini-series) is a true crime documentary about the 2013 murder and abuse of Gabriel Fernandez, an eight-year-old boy from Palmdale, California.
Instant Family (Netflix/Amazon Prime) A feel-good movie about a young couple learning the ropes of parenthood when they decide to foster three children. Based on a true story.
Paper Tigers, (Amazon Prime) chronicles a year in the life of an alternative high school in the community of Walla Walla, Washington that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students, becoming a promising model for how to break the cycles of poverty, violence and disease that affect families.
Closure (Amazon Prime) tells the true story of Angela Tucker, a trans-racial adoptee who finds her birth mother, and meets the rest of a family who did not know she existed, including her birth father. A story about identity, the complexities of trans-racial adoption, and most importantly, closure.
Congratulations, You're On Your Own: Life After Foster Care. Real-life stories of young adults who have recently left the foster care system are told by the youths themselves.
The Dark Matter of Love is a documentary following the Diaz family as they adopt three children from a Russian orphanage. The film also raises the provocative question of the extent to which nature and/or nurture influence behavior.
Foster (HBO) Foster is a documentary chronicling true stories about children in the foster care system. Foster illuminates the breadth and depth of the challenges facing anyone hoping to improve the foster care system.
Precious . Based on the book Push by Sapphire, Precious tells the story of a teen girl—illiterate, morbidly overweight, and abused emotionally and sexually—who is pregnant with her second child. The film highlights the importance of the right support at the right time.
SHORT VIDEOS
No Passport Required
Stream on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/show/no-passport-required/
Hosted by Chef Marcus Samuelsson
Join chef Marcus Samuelsson on an inspiring journey across the U.S. to explore and celebrate the wide-ranging diversity of immigrant traditions and cuisine woven into American food and culture.
Indian Child Welfare Act-Educational Resource Video
View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJCqeauLvY8&t=4s
Hear from Native American adults on their experiences with foster care and adoption as children before the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
We Shall Remain
View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs0iwY6YjSk
We Shall Remain, a video by The Stylehouse Collective, was created to address the effects of historical trauma in our tribal communities. Many times, these untended wounds are at the core of much of the self-inflicted pain experienced in Native America. Much like fire, this pain can either be devastatingly destructive or wisely harnessed to become fuel that helps us to rise up and move forward in life with joy, purpose and dignity.