SCREENINGS
On Television
CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)
PREMIERE
March 07 10:00pm CBC
03/07/2006 at 10:00 PM
The lives of children under foster care.

"Wards of the Crown"

Directed by
Andrée Cazabon

Produced by
Robert Charbonneau
Claudette Jaiko

Written by
Andrée Cazabon

Year
2005

Running Time
42 min 30 s

Producers
Les Productions R. Charbonneau inc.
National Film Board of Canada

THE FILM
At age 13, Andrée Cazabon was briefly placed in a group home. Marked
by this
experience, the filmmaker decided to track four young people for 10
months
as they prepared to leave foster care.

The result is Wards of the Crown, a stirring documentary about a
little-known reality.

Leaha, Myrtho, Emily and Chantal are among the 66,000 youngsters in
foster
care in Canada. These four young people, all between 16 and 20 years old,
give us a candid look at their lives. Beyond their personal stories, all
four speak disdainfully about an inept, overburdened foster-care
system. "We
were like robots they experimented on," says Myrtho. "Nobody has time
for a
depressed, suicidal thirteen-year-old," adds Emily. In addition to
their sad
revelations, Wards of the Crown spotlights a system that isn't
working, as
Claudette Mayheux, a director at the Children's Aid Society, readily
admits.
"Foster care must become a temporary, short-term solution," she advises.

Though the comments are frank and heartbreaking, the documentary never
adopts a sensationalist tone. The shocking disclosures have the ring of
truth. With great empathy and a real gift for listening, the filmmaker
skilfully blends the four stories.

"When kids become wards of the Crown, does their mother become Queen
Elizabeth?" the filmmaker quips. Black humour is one weapon these young
people have used to survive (and youngsters who are abandoned,
rejected and
unloved need their weapons). Beneath their protective shells is a
lucidity
these walking wounded were forced to learn at an early age, too early in
fact. They are courageous souls, and with Wards of the Crown, Andrée
Cazabon
pays tribute to their incredible strength, generosity and resilience.

CREDITS
Writer
Andrée Cazabon

Writer - collaboration
Christion Schnobb

Director
Andrée Cazabon

Distribution agent
Mia Desroches
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SCREENINGS
On Television
CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)
PREMIERE
March 07 10:00pm CBC
03/07/2006 at 10:00 PM
The lives of children under foster care.

CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)
PREMIERE
March 08th 2006 1:00am
03/08/2006 at 01:00 AM
The lives of children under foster care.

CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)CBC NEWSWORLD (ET)
PREMIERE
03/08/2006 at 04:00 AM
March 8th, 2006 at 4:00am
The lives of children under foster care.




John Dunn
The Foster Care Council of Canada
http://www.afterfostercare.ca

Ontario Advisory Committee on Child and Youth Services
http://oaccys.proboards34.com/index.cgi