America's Most Unwanted (2011) - Trailer (Documentary) - video Dailymotion

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Documentary ~ 2011 ~ Color    Synopsis: AMERICA'S MOST UNWANTED, the newest short-form documentary from award-winning filmmaker Shani Heckman, reveals untold stories of homophobia in the foster care system in the countrys most gay-friendly state: California. California is also one of the first states to pass the Foster Care Achievement Act and A.B.21, which will allow foster youth access to care until age 21. For decades, policy changes are making life better for foster youth, but as bullying campaigns across the country have shown, life needs to be improved for LGBT youth at all levelsour hope is this film can help with this step.    LGBTQ foster youth are often kicked out of their homes for defining as LGBTQ and then enter state-sanctioned homes that treat them even worse: 75% of LGBTQI foster youth in state care had experienced physical abuse, 66% preferred to live on the streets CWLA, 2007.    AMERICA'S MOST UNWANTED lends the case for more access to LGBT foster parenting and adoption by providing a human face these three youth whose lives would have benefited from such support. Connor was in foster care since age 7 and used education achievement to survive. Savi too entered the system at age 7, stifled by a learning disability and presenting as an out queer, Savi experiences difficulties fitting and has 52 different foster care placements in 10 years. Teruko signed herself into foster care at age 17 after more than a decade of difficulties living with a drug-addicted mother and life in Hunters Point. Teruko also uses education to help herself, entering University of California Berkeley as a fresh-person. Valerie, was born into orphanages and lived in foster homes and on the streets until she entered the prison system at age 15 as an adult. Turning her life around completely, Valerie is a successful published author of six books, a former international journalist and a mentor and teacher of Buddhism. Together, they represent a nexus of challenges facing foster youth in America today: economic and academic inequities, homophobia in the system, threats of homelessness, drug addiction, life in and out of prison, and how self preservation and personal well-being can enable youth to overcome unfathomable challenges.    Director: Shani Heckman    Stars: Tom Riska

Transcript

00:00I'm here to introduce our last awardee which is Savannah. The work that she has

00:07done for this community is not only inspiring but I know there are so many

00:12people that learn from her every day. Please come on up here Savannah.

00:20It was amazing the amount of people that wanted to be around me. When I was up on

00:26the stage emceeing shows and winning awards it was amazing the amount of

00:31people that wanted to shake my hand and tell me how great of a person I am and

00:34that was the most purest feelings I felt in a while that had anything to do with

00:39positivity. But life throws you curveballs all the time. There's hurdles

00:48that you constantly have to jump and when they came back into my life

00:52recently nobody wants to be there and nobody wants to shake my hand and nobody

00:56wants to tell me how great I'm doing instead. It's way easier to jump to the

01:00to the negative sides and that's how the system cheated me the most because

01:05these people that it took so many years for me to finally trust. I finally

01:09started doing it these last couple years and trusting adults again after years of

01:13shutting everybody out and building this enormous wall around myself and because

01:19I'm not on stage anymore and because I'm not up there doing all these things that

01:23they want me to do or they want to be a part of to share the success and to be

01:26part of the inspirational adults that you know helps me climb out of it. It's

01:30your typical lifetime story.

America's Most Unwanted (2011) - Trailer (Documentary)

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