We Will Never Be Royals

A determined teenager must rely on her own wits when her fractured family abandons her.

Julia always said that her upbringing as a biological child in a foster family was a happy time. But something is wrong. In The Foster Family, we follow director Julia's journey back in time, where she, together with her parents Ewa and Lennart and the foster child Patrik, recollect the shocking events that changed their lives over thirty years ago. The children are at the center of this strong, touching and warm documentary about a system where you can love, but not too much.

In the disciplined world of boxing, Fabiana maintains order as a referee, but her life takes an unexpected turn when she decides to adopt Dudu, a troubled 12-year-old boy. To get out of this, she must reconnect with his father, a frustrated actor. While society favors “perfect” mothers, fathers and children, this unlikely trio faces challenges and discovers that family is much more than an ideal model.

You don't choose your family. You choose your friends. Vegas is the story of Thomas, Marianne and Terje – three teenagers with nowhere to go.

The arrival of a beautiful new stranger in town prompts two boys to spend their summer holidays enticing the young woman to act in a short-film. However their motivation is purely that of seeing her naked.

In writer/director Paolo Rotondo’s debut feature, three teenagers on the run break into a deluxe Waiheke Island home and find themselves caught in a tense psychodrama with the conflicted owner.

A precocious child has a profound effect on the lives of a successful Broadway producer and her husband.

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.

Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.

Young and feisty Gilly Hopkins devises a scheme to escape from her new foster home and reunite with her birth mother.

A wealthy professional gay couple, who wish to adopt children, see their lives turned topsy turvy when they take in two misbehaving brothers.

Théo is given up for adoption by his biological mother on the very day he is born. After this anonymous birth, the mother has two months to change her mind… Or not. The child welfare services and adoption service spring into action… The former have to take care of the baby and support it during this limbo-like time, this period of uncertainty, while the latter must find a woman to become his adoptive mother. She is called Alice, and she has spent the last ten years fighting to have a child.

Now a taciturn adult, an adoptee finds his biological mother and strikes up a relationship fraught with tension and emotion.

When Dr. Drew Carter tragically loses his ten-year old son in a car accident, he didn’t expect to lose his whole family as well. Since the accident, his wife (Julia) has become emotionally absent towards him and their daughter. When Johnny, a terminally ill foster child with leukemia, is referred to Drew he sees a chance to heal his family. With Julia against the idea, Drew takes matters into his own hands and adopts Johnny. Johnny doesn’t know what he is in for, but believes he is here for a special mission.

A dedicated social worker organizes a train trip for a group of slum orphans in 1894, taking them from New York City to the Midwest in search of new families and new lives.

Keith and Kim Lussier are a childless couple who are given custody of a 3-month-old foster child, Brittany. However, tragedy strikes when Kim dies of cancer in the middle of the adoption process, leaving Keith to fight for Brittany's custody alone.

Cathy, 6, is taken by a social worker to a foster home in the countryside, where she slowly gets used to the strict rules imposed by her foster mother Réjeanne. Fortunately, her foster father, Reynald, is kind and gentle with the girl and patiently helps her break through her shell. Kayla, 12, is sent to a group home where she gets to know Morgane, a rebellious teenager who’s planning to run away. At about the same time, Manu is released from the system on the day she turns 18, but she finds it difficult to adjust to her solitary existence outside of the system. All four meet up at a reception honoring a foster family with whom they’ve all previously lived.

Mrs. Doray sits with a Juvenile Court Judge to learn more about problem children and what to do about them. One of the cases involves 13 year old Arthur, "the worst kid in town", who moves cars away from fiire-plugs without the knowledge of the owners. The judge gives Arthur and friend Nutty another chance. However they run into further trouble when they break into Mr. Doray's drugstore to get medicine for Nutty's grandmother. Mr. Doray is not sympathetic and completely against his wife's plan to become Arthur's guardian. More incidents occur with Mr. Doray quick to judge prior to getting all of the facts. Mrs. Doray must choose between her marriage and Arthur.

Annie is a young, happy foster kid who's also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they'd be back for her someday, it's been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan. But everything's about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks—advised by his brilliant VP and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor—makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he's her guardian angel, but Annie's self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it's the other way around.

The film follows five years in the life of a young girl as she struggles against an onslaught of good intentions. From her first encounter with the social care system, through a range of foster placements, to a haunting climax, we are challenged to question how it is that so many well-intentioned people can do so much unintended damage. And how it is that the £4bn a year that people in the UK spend on children in care has failed to break the cycle of abuse, addiction and abandonment. Written by Tim Kemp