Written and directed by Stephen Shames.
Friends of the Children is photographer Stephen Shames’ first film. The film uses a unique “no narrator” approach.
Friends of the Children is a mentoring program that helps young children most in danger of abuse, gang involvement, teenage pregnancy and criminal behavior by putting caring, full-time “aunts” and “uncles” into their lives.
We sometimes think problems such as family violence, students killing students at school, drugs and alcohol, teens with babies, abuse, neglect don’t have solutions. But this film, which explores the lives of our most “at-risk” children, shows they do.
“Friends of the Children is simply putting a caring, loving adult into the life of a child,” says Friends Director Mike Forzley, “What we do in Friends is build relationships... caring, loving relationships. I don’t know if love conquers all, but love facilitates growth. It unlocks their hearts. It opens their minds. Then the miracle happens.”
Running Time: 12 minutes 30 seconds