Ukraine's Forgotten Children

Streaming video - 2015

Ten times as many children are in institutional care in Ukraine as in England. In this disturbing investigation, film-maker, Kate Blewett (The Dying Rooms, Bulgaria's Abandoned Children) finds out what a lifetime in the care of the state really means for Ukraine's Forgotten Children. Shot over six months in an institute for disabled and abandoned children in Ukraine, this revealing and intimate film takes us inside the lives of a handful of children who were abandoned by their parents - with a simple signature - to state care. The institute houses 126 children, of whom all but 4 still have living parents. The vast majority are what are called in Ukraine "social orphans", signed over to institutional care in a society tha...t still clings to the Soviet-era ideal that the state knows best. But what Kate finds is that children of widely varying abilities are warehoused together, leading inevitably to institutionalization, repetitive behavior, self-stimulation and self harm even amongst those with very minor disabilities. Around £9 billion has been spent in Ukraine in preparation for hosting Euro 2012 this June, but while vast sums have been found for infrastructure in the major cities, the budgets for the weakest members of society have been under strain. This film takes us into a disturbing world that the Ukrainian government would rather outsiders did not witness. It is a powerful and emotionally gripping indictment of a system that hides orphan children away in remote and inaccessible institutions, before labelling many of them as beyond rehabilitation. Awards Association of International Broadcasters - Nominee - in 2012 "a hard-hitting, immensely powerful piece of journalism" - George Wilkinson - On the Box. "a brave and compassionate bit of film-making" - Tom Sutcliffe - The Independent. "Kate Blewett's powerful film wisely refrained from pointing fingers - the harrowing images spoke for themselves" - Keith Watson - Metro. "sensitive, thoughtful and eloquent" - Tom Lubek, The Yorker. more