Companions in Hope

pile of dvds

DVDs


Boyhood Shadows - (Coming Soon)


A Documentary produced by Steve Rosen and Terri DeBono

Boyhood Shadows journeys with Glenn, revealing a story that began as a young boy under the power of a sexual predator. The story chronicles Glenn's struggles as he tries to make sense of his life as a youngster, keeping his secret and shame inside, promising to tell no one. Quelling his pain as a teen through alcohol and drugs, he held tight to his secret. Glenn's story is detailed by wrenching testimonials of his brothers and sister, his mother and father - who each recognized something was wrong with this once-golden boy - but at a loss to understand the cause of his devastation.

After suffering for decades, living on the streets, addicted to alcohol, drugs and sex, Glenn finally comes up for air. It tells of his past and his present.... funny, poignant and sad. Glenn's story is interspersed with those of twenty other boys-turned-men who share the same history. Their stories are all different... but unfortunately, all the same. One in six boys is sexually molested by the age of 16.

Glenn claims he is alive today because he finally spoke out against his predator. "There is no shame in being a victim." His strength is an inspiration to many. Today, he directs a sober-living facility in Los Angeles.

View Trailer here. Website Link: boyhoodshadows.org


The Magdalen Sisters - (2002)

Product Description: "A stirring, must-see motion picture critics called on of the best films of the year, The Magdalen Sisters is the triumphant story of three extraordinary women whose courage to defy a century of injustice would inspire a nation! Abandoned by society and cast out by their families for crimes they did not commit, these women found themselves stripped of their liberty and dignity and condemned to indefinite sentences of manual labor. Within the church-run Magdalen Laundries, these women were forced into unbearable institutional servitude in order to cleanse themselves of their "sins" of which they had been accused. From acclaimed director Peter Mullan, this award-winning powerhouse not only reveals the truth behind one of the great tragedies of our time, but celebrates the bravery that would bring it to an end!"

Available for purchase at Amazon.com


Saving Children: The Sex Abuse Tragedy

Product Description: :A half-hour documentary with stories of child sexual abuse victims and advice from treatment professionals on ways to address this growing problem."

Available for purchase or to view on-line at napsac.us


Broken Trusts, Broken Childhoods

Product Description: "The program addresses a pervasive problem in American society. It is also about hope - hope for survivors, their families, and our children. Portions of the program are from a panel discussion held in Bloomington, Minnesota in December 2006 keynoted by national expert Charol Shakeshaft, Ph.D. of Hofstra University interspersed with interviews of 3 survivors and the mother of a victim."

Available for purchase at napsac.us


Deliver Us From Evil - (2007)

Product Description: "The true storyof the most notorious pedophile priest in the modern history of the Catholic Church."

Website link: Deliver Us From Evil


Hand of God - (2007)

Product Description: "A moving, and frankly told story of a family's confrontation with the church that betrayed them, and how they survived it all with their humanity and humor intact."

Watch online on PBS website


Twist of Faith - (2004)

Product Description: "This tells the story of a man who confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse as a boy by a priest only to find his decision shatters relationships with his family, community, and his faith."

Available for purchase at Amazon.com


Our Fathers - (2005)

Product Description: "Based on the compelling book, this true story focuses on the sexual abuse scandal and cover-up. The story unfolds in early 2002: When a group of reporters blew open the sexual abuse scandal surrounding father john j geoghan and cardinal bernard law who failed to stop the sexual abuse in his diocese."

Available for purchase at Amazon.com


The Boys of St. Vincent

Product Description: "Inside the walls of St. Vincent's Orphanage, young boys fall victim to sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their guardians. Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, Clear and Present Danger) gives a terrifying performance as Brother Lavin, the head of the orphanage who must juggle the teachings of the church with his own personal demons. The plight of the boys under his care remains a secret until the orphanage janitor and a local policeman speak out against the Brothers' appalling treatment of the orphans. During the ensuing investigation, the boys courageously testify against the Brothers. Fearing a scandal, religious and civil authorities conspire to shut down the case and quietly transfer the accused Brothers to new postings. Fifteen years later, still unhealed, the victims go public with their ordeal. As the veil of secrecy is finally lifted, their story will shock the world."

Available for purchase at Amazon.com


Sleepers - (1997)

Product Description: "You hurt the neighborhood you pay the price. That's how it is in New York's Hell's Kitchen of the 1960's. For four pals growing up there, that's how it will always be. Fifteen years after terrible events scar their lives, tehy are ready to even the score." Starring Robert DeNiro, Brad Pitt, and Kevin Bacon. Directed by Barry Levinson.

Available for purchase at Amazon.com


Sex in a Cold Climate - (1997)

Product Description: This is the documentary that inspired the film, The Magdalene Sisters. It is an expose of the cruelty and abuse suffered by the inmates of Irelands's Magdalene laundries where women who were thought to be 'fallen' were made to work 12 hours a day, six days a week, for no pay. Four former inmates overdubbing quaint old footage of Ireland, narrate the film. This juxtaposition shows us how such injustice could go on: to the outside world these institutions seemed good, even idyllic, places to put these young girls. Produced and directed by Steve Humphries. Narrated by Dervla Kirwan.

New! Click here to watch this Documentary.


Dear Daughter - (1996)

Dear Daughter is a documentary that was aired on television in Europe. It allowed several women to tell of the physical and mental abuse they were subjected to while in care at the Sisters of Mercy orphanage at Goldenbridnge Dublin Ireland in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The accounts of the physical and mental cruelty the children endured are truly shocking. Tales of beatings, scaldings and infants strapped to potties do not make an easy documentary to watch. (From Louis Lenin review)


States of Fear - (2000)

Review: Between 1868 and 1969, more than 100,000 Irish children were taken from their families by the state and placed in so-called industrial schools run by various orders of the Catholic Church. The conditions in these schools, as documented by [writer Mary] Raftery first in her award-winning TV documentary States of Fear and now in this book (Suffer the Little Children), were appalling. The documentary so shocked Ireland that the prime minister was forced to offer an apology on behalf of the state. Collaborating here with [Eoin] O'Sullivan, a lecturer in social policy at Trinity College, Dublin, Raftery presents a child welfare system out of control. Most of the children in industrial schools were placed there because of their parents' poverty. Then the state closed its eyes as the children were abused physically, mentally, and sexually by nuns and priests who were supposed to take care of them. The testimonials of the former students themselves are heart-wrenching. Mary Norris remembers being remanded because her mother, a widow with eight children, allowed a man to stay the night. Don Baker tells that, when he, aged 12, arrived at his school, the priest pointed at his groin and asked, "Do you play with that?" Baker remembers the school as something out of Oliver Twist old, filthy clothes, terrible food and repeated floggings. Interspersed throughout the testimonials are political details: which government and which minister either ignored allegations or quickly passed the buck. It is noteworthy that Father Edward Flanagan, founder of Boystown, on a visit to Ireland in 1946 condemned the highly abusive and punitive culture within the Irish industrials schools. Raftery and O'Sullivan perform and important service in recording the ugly story of these institutions. (From Publishers Weekly)



 

 

Coming Soon............ More DVDs

 

 

 

Note: We welcome personal reviews of the movies and documentaries listed on these pages. Please send yours to us at the address below and we will post them here.

 


If you would like to contribute something to this page, please mail or email your information to:

Companions in Hope
P. O. Box 638
Geneva, Illinois 60134

mail@companionsinhope.com

Thank you for your interest and participation.


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