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.
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I Was Only 14 (2016)
Filmmaker Froukje van Wengerden’s 86-year-old grandmother shares a powerful memory from 1944, when she was just 14. As her story unfolds, we see a group of contemporary 14-year-old girls. Their procession of portraits permits the spectator to see simultaneously forward and back, into the future and towards the past. A miraculous testimonial that uses eye contact to focus the viewer inward and evoke unexpected emotions.
Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision (2007)
"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.
Untold Secrets (2021)
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.
Flophouse America (2025)
Because of the big housing problem in the US many people move into cheap, run down hotels, the so-called Flophouse hotels. Twelve-year-old Mikal was born and raised in a hotel room he shares with his parents, who struggle with substance abuse. Driven by love and a desire for a better life, his greatest wish is for his mother to stop drinking. Mikal is bright and articulate, but his parents’ struggles prevent them from giving him the stability he needs. Through Mikal’s perspective, the film paints an intimate portrait of resilience, hope, and the harsh realities of life on society’s margins.
The Last Chinese Laundry (1987)
A documentary from 1987 featuring the life of early Chinese immigrants to the island of Newfoundland.
I'm only a body (2024)
Two young women join the director. The three of them become one to break the silence and tell a story about incest. Between reality and traumatic flashbacks, the narrative transcends genre barriers to explore pain and resilience.
An Open Secret (2014)
An investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry.
This Is Paris (2020)
Meet the real Paris Hilton for the very first time as she embarks on a journey of healing and reflection, reclaiming her true identity along the way.
The Words to Tell You (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.
The Silence (2015)
There are children. There are those who abuse them. And there are those who know, but never tell.
Stigma: Raised in Hollywood (NaN)
When former child star Aaron Schwartz (Mighty Ducks, Heavyweights) returned to the acting world as an adult, he found himself always being asked this recurring question: 'how is he still normal having been a child star?' After seeing one too many sensationalized 'where are they now' publications he began to notice that being a child actor carried with it a stigma that seemed impossible to break. Aaron explores why the Stigma of being raised in Hollywood exists, and why child stars are so often misunderstood.
Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax (2024)
Two children accused parents and teachers of leading a paedophilic satanic cult, supposedly headquartered in secret rooms on the school premises. The story was not true. But once the fire was lit, it was hard to put out. Emily Turner’s film considers the real-world impact of an outrageous online conspiracy theory, exploring the importance of truth and the cost of lies.
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
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.
Is Your Story Making You Sick? (2018)
Humans are story-telling creatures. By thinking, we all unconsciously "author" a self-story in our heads. Most often, the characters and plot of our story is framed by negative experiences from childhood. These painful "stories" then determine our emotions, leading to unhealthy stress, and changes in body chemistry. This is how a person's self-story can turn into a stress-related illness.
First Things and Last Things (2018)
Upon suddenly learning of her imminent death, Jacqueline von Kaenel begins to search for the key to her life. Unsparingly, she looks back and discovers how everything is connected; her youth in Franco’s Spain with her mother’s feudal past in eastern Prussia, her desire for music with the one for a dominant and powerful husband. In her ambition to be a perfect mother, she recognizes her fight for identity. But all of a sudden experiences from her childhood in a seemingly happy family crop up turning everything upside down.
Abused: Breaking the Silence (2011)
A group of aging former classmates begin a quest for justice when they learn from one another just how many of them had been abused as schoolboys.
The Girl in the Cellar: 8 Years Underground (2023)
In 1998, Natascha Kampusch was abducted in broad daylight at the age of ten and held hostage in a basement for 3096 days. When she escaped in 2006, she was met with mistrust. Explores her story and how conspiracy theories have impacted her life.
Minding the Gap (2018)
Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
