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Event
OUT Twin Cities Film Festival 2012
America's Most Unwanted - Director: Shani Heckman
Fundraiser for GLBT Host Home Program
Film followed with a panel discussion
Admission: $10
Through interviews, vérité footage, and digital stills, AMU reveals four queer[LG1] former foster youth building their lives after emancipation from state care. With a three-act structure, AMU follows Connor, Savi, and Teruko over their first four years after foster care, juxtaposing these stories with those of Valerie, a successful adult former foster youth. Over the course of the film, we witness these youth in their natural environments, involved in making art, taking care of children and playing instruments in jazz bands. Just like youth outside of the foster care system, AMU's characters have many talents too, and dreams and hopes to change their futures,
The characters' resiliency, humor and sensitivity are illustrated by their incredible insights into their own identities and experiences as revealed in intimate interviews in the film. Together, these multi-generational stories illuminate the common struggle for queer foster youth to overcome tremendous obstacles homophobia, homelessness, isolation and the new place of strength they reach in this process of survival.
Already 'unwanted' as foster youth, LGBT foster youth frequently experience additional harassments in their foster care placements, and many are placed in care because their biological families do not support their identities. More often than not, we take these queer youth from homophobic, abusive homes and put them in even more hostile situations.
As we witness these youth's lives juxtaposed with success stories from other survivors of foster care, AMU challenges to eradicate the stigma of foster youth in society. The film promotes respect for those coming out of the system and calls upon viewers to take action in caring for America's queer foster youth, ideally inspiring empty-nesters to become foster parents.
We hope that a unique connection will be created from these candid interviews that will inspire LGBT adults and their allies to become foster parents and change the negative stigma placed on foster youth.
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LocationSt. Anthony Main Theatre (View)
115 SE Main Street
Minneapolis, MN 55414
United States
Categories
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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Contact
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