The Documentaries
stolen childhoods
The first in a trilogy of films about children's human rights, Stolen Childhoods is the first feature documentary on global child labor ever produced. The film features stories of child laborers around the world, told in their own words. Children are shown working in dumps, quarries, brick kilns. The film places these children's stories in the broader context of the worldwide struggle against child labor. Stolen Childhoods provides an understanding of the causes of child labor, what it costs the global community, and what it will take to eliminate it. Shot in eight countries (Brazil, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal and the United States), the film includes slave and bonded labor footage never seen before. It has framing interviews with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (the leading legislative advocate for global action to eliminate child labor) and human rights advocates for children: Pharis Harvey, Inderjit Khurana, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Wangari Maathai and Kailash Satyarthi. Narrated by Meryl Streep. 1 hr 25 mins 33 seconds (2005)
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Rescuing Emmanuel
Setting out to make a film about street children across the globe, the filmmakers are hijacked by a filthy 13-year-old boy in Nairobi, Kenya. Belligerently stoned on shoe glue, Emmanuel will not be ignored. While his name means "God among us," his life, like all street children, is in constant danger. But who will notice if it is snuffed out? 1 hr 12 mins 12 secs (2009)
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The Same Heart
Nearly one billion children live in poverty. Yet, year after year, development assistance funding trickles in too little, too late. But what if the funding mechanism were structured differently, so that the United Nations did not have to pass the hat for official development assistance, and beg nations to make good on their pledges? What if, instead of reacting to the emergency du jour with appeals to sentiment, the world community saw a dignified life as something every human being has a right to? What if a small tax on financial transactions could create a consistent pool of money to provide a baseline level of dignified existence? What if we had the same heart for all children, not just our own? 1 hr 7 mins 53 secs (2015)
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Children of Bal Ashram
What happens after the raid when terrified child slaves are rescued from criminal employers? At Bal Ashram, Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi and his wife Sumedha provide a home, family and a second chance at childhood. 1 hr 6 mins 2 secs (2019)
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Individuals may screen Children of Bal Ashram by clicking the Rent icon on the left.
If you wish to use Children of Bal Ashram in your classroom or public library, an educational streaming license can be obtained by clicking the button License Now. Download a free study guide by clicking on the window to the left.
Butterfly Butterfly
How do we treat our children? What changes have the last thirty years seen in the promises we have made to offer food, healthcare, education, safety, clean water and gender equality? This film is drawn from thousands of hours shot around the world. Have we kept our promises to afford children "special status" as outlined in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child? Butterfly Butterfly moves around the globe examining child labor in American agriculture, tobacco, coffee and cocoa. It examines the plight of street children, incarcerated children, how we address the massive inequality that consigns children to forced labor or contributes to 13.7 million children who are fleeing for their lives. Butterfly Butterfly looks at how we are cultivating a new generation of youth activists and leaders, and it is ultimately a film with an optimistic message.
Alma, Gizela and José, three first-generation college students, describe their childhoods as migrant farmworkers helping their families in the fields. 9 mins 19 seconds (2022)