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- Kanopy This link opens in a new window Kanopy is a provider of documentaries, training films, and theatrical releases available as streaming video. Clips from the videos can be embedded in presentations or shown in class. Films in the Boston University Libraries catalog are licensed to Boston University for educational and research use only, for BU students, faculty, and staff.
Featured Films
Child Abuse / Child Sexual Abuse / Child Neglect
- Allen v. Farrow (streaming, Academic Video Online) Allen v. Farrow goes behind decades of sensational headlines to reveal the private story of one of Hollywood’s most notorious and public scandals: the accusation of sexual abuse against Woody Allen involving Dylan, his then seven-year-old daughter with Mia Farrow. Examining the shattering effects of trauma on a family, the series chronicles the former Hollywood power couple’s subsequent custody trial, the revelation of Allen’s relationship with Farrow’s daughter,
- Child abuse: stop it before it starts (streaming, Academic Video Online) More than three million children are physically abused each year, and the bulk of that abuse comes from their parents. But there are things parents can do to recognize and prevent potential child abuse. Watch a compelling exposé of child abuse in America and the steps that can be taken to prevent it. We will hear from a former child abuser and learn what she did to stop the cycle of abuse in her life. Meet some of the nation?s leading experts in child abuse, and find out how to prevent child abuse before a parent loses control.
- Family affair (streaming, Academic Video Online) At 10 years old, Chico Colvard accidentally shot his older sister in the leg. This seemingly random act detonated a chain reaction that exposed unspeakable realities and shattered his family. Thirty years later, Colvard ruptures veils of secrecy and silence again. As he bravely visits his relatives, what unfolds is a personal film that's as uncompromising, raw, and cathartic as any in the history of the medium.
- Recognizing child abuse sexual abuse (streaming:, Academic Video Online) This program focuses on the various aspects of sexual abuse. Included are an overview and definition of sexual abuse, and the many ways that sexual abuse occurs, including incest, molestation, exhibitionism, child pornography and child prostitution. Discussed in detail are the specific methods that abusers utilize with their victims, including grooming and ways of pressuring of children into sexual activity.
- Believe me (streaming, Academic Video Online) Believe Me deals with sexual abuse in a straightforward and nonsensational way. It shows that even sex abuse consists of a wide range of inappropriate behavior and that most sexual abusers are known to the child and can be members of their own family.
- Child abuse & neglect : the hidden hurt (streaming, Academic Video online) One of the leading causes of death among pre-adolescents in the United States today is not a physical illness. It's an emotional and moral one: child abuse. It is estimated that five to six million children are abused or neglected by their parents each year and thousands more cases go unreported. Experts believe that the incidence of child abuse has been increasing at an annual rate between 15 and 20 percent. Victims of child abuse suffer physical and emotional deprivation.
- My Mother, My Abuser (streaming, Academic Video Online) The sexual abuse of children committed by women, most often mothers, is a rarely documented subject. In this film, six victims of maternal incest powerfully convey their nightmarish child hoods. The abuse often begins in infancy when children do not understand what their mother is doing. They lose hope that anyone will stop it and cannot talk about it until decades later. Often, physical violence accompanies the sexual abuse
- The Healing Years: Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) THE HEALING YEARS Women Survivors Of Child Sexual AbuseProduced and directed byKathy Barbini for Big Voice PicturesThis important documentary investigates the effect of incest on three women as it illuminates their journey from pain and despair to recovery to finally working to end the cycle of incest.
- Children are a Gift: Overcoming Child Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) Child abuse and neglect have reached epidemic levels in our world today, and unfortunately millions of children who look to adults for love and care instead find pain and suffering. In this program, we speak with author David Pelzer, a victim of life-threatening child abuse. We also take a look at the role foster parenting plays in the life of an abused or neglected child. Part of the Primary Focus Series.
- Child Maltreatment Intervention (streaming, Academic Video Online) Social workers and other professionals often struggle with how to identify and deal with child maltreatment. Mary Mulvaney describes the different types of child abuse and neglect, discusses the risk and protective factors involved in assessing for maltreatment, and highlights the use of strength-based interventions needed in such cases.
- Pervert Park (streaming, Academic Video Online) Florida Justice Transitions is home to 120 convicted sex offenders. Like in many other U.S. states, sex offenders are not allowed to live within 1000 feet of places frequented by children. Because of this, many sex offenders live under bridges or in woods - or in the trailer park Florida Justice Transitions - also known as "Pervert Park". The crimes committed by the residents range from simple misdemeanors to horrendous acts unbearable to contemplate. The characters in Pervert Park are all fighting their own very different battles and demons. In this film they tell us their stories as they have never told them before.
- Child Sexual Abuse Trauma Training Video (streaming, Academic Video Online) This video, directed by Terrance Tykeem, is a training video about child sexual abuse trauma.
- Boys and Men Healing From Child Sexual Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) Boys and Men Healing is a documentary about the impact the sexual abuse of boys has on both the individual and society, and the importance of healing and speaking out for male survivors to end the devastating effects. The film portrays courageous non-offending men whose arduous healing helped them reclaim their lives—while giving them a powerful voice to speak out, and take bold action toward prevention for other boys.
- Boyhood Shadows: "I Swore I'd Never Tell" (streaming, Academic Video Online) Childhood sexual abuse, an invisible and shattering crime to body and soul now, finally emerges from its crypt of secrets and silence. In recent years, the redemptive light of justice and compassion has begun to expose this hidden horror within our culture. Survivors are speaking out. Perpetrators are being named and convicted. Understanding begins to replace pervasive denial.
- Witch Hunt (dvd) Executive Producer Sean Penn narrates WITCH HUNT, a gripping account of the wrongful arrest for and conviction of child molestation of John Stoll, Scott and Brenda Kniffen, and Jeff Modahl in the early 1980s. WITCH HUNT covers the original investigation and arrests that rocked the community of Bakersfield, CA and the nation, and the ensuing legal fight for exoneration
- Short Term 12 (dvd) As a young foster care facility staffer, Grace sees it as her job to be personally invested in the lives of the at-risk kids in her care—refusing to bow to cynicism or suffer bureaucracy when passion and dedication are key to her calling. Those traits, as well as her own complex past, fuel Grace's own emotional crisis when she bonds with a troubled new arrival. Smart and sensitive blend of powerful drama and sly humor.
- Kids For Sale (dvd) Throughout the world, children are sexually exploited by strangers, acquaintances, friends and even family members. From victims of child abuse in Vienna to child prostitution in Vancouver, Kids for Sale looks beyond the statistics as it profiles a handful of individuals personally affected by sexual exploitation. This film chronicles the dark side of life that all too often engulfs girls and boys who are powerless to protect themselves.
Child Sexual Abuse by Clergy
- Holy water-gate (streaming, Academic Video Online) Holy Water-Gate explores the lengths to which sexual abuse has been systematically obscured throughout the nation. It presents startling testimony from an admitted priest perpetrator, church officials and victims, as well as the story of Father John Bambrick who was himself molested by a priest as an adolescent and continues to seek justice for fellow victims.
- Sex Crimes & the Vatican (streaming, Academic Video Online) Investigation into allegations that a secret church directive, issued by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI, is being used to silence the victims of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests. Colm O'Gorman, who was raped as a 14-year-old boy by his local parish priest in Ireland, travels to America, Brazil and the Vatican City to uncover more.
- Our Lady's (streaming, Academic Video Online) Our Lady's is the story of how one Boston suburban parish rose up against the powerful Church hierarchy to demand that their voices be heard. They were horrified when they learned that a popular priest had molested a number of local children years before. When it was revealed that the local church hierarchy, including Boston's Archbishop Cardinal Law, had known about the abuse for years but continued to transfer the suspected priest from parish to parish, their grief turned to collective outrage
- Power to Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) BBC Wales reporter Phil Parry has uncovered disturbing new evidence of how the Roman Catholic Church in Wales behaved as paedophile priests abused children.
- Sins of the Fathers: Men Who are Sexually Abused By Priests (streaming, Academic Video Online) Men tell stories of hurt, healing, and hope as they recount the abuse they suffered at the hands of priests. A look at how the church and these survivors are working together to make amends and restore the faith of those affected.
- 60 minutes. The church on trial. Part 1 (streaming, Academic Video Online) Why is it taking the Roman Catholic leadership so long to make the church safe for its children? Ed Bradley found some answers in Louisiana, in a case that could have taught the Church nearly everything it needed to know about that - 19 years ago. Ed Bradley reports.
- Title 60 minutes. The church on trial. Part 2 (streaming, Academic Video Online) Thursday, June 13, 2002, the entire U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did something that organization has never done before: listen to victims. Bishop Wilton Gregory, the president of the Conference, says they should have done that a long time ago. Ed Bradley reports.
- 60 minutes. The church on trial. Part 3 (streaming, Academic Video Online) Bishop Wilton Gregory says the Church should set a mandatory policy, requiring all American bishops to report priests accused of sex crimes to the police. But there are powerful figures in the Church who are already speaking out against Bishop Gregory's proposal. Ed Bradley recently spoke to Gregory about the issue.
- Spotlight (Blu-ray) Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams lead a criticallyacclaimed cast in this gripping true story about the PulitzerPrize-winning investigation that uncovered a scandal that rocked oneof the world's oldest and most trusted institutions. Delving intoallegations of child abuse within the local Catholic Archdiocese, atenacious team of Boston Globe reporters exposes a decades-longcover-up that reaches the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal,and government establishment.
- Deliver Us From Evil (dvd) my Berg's award-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary recounts the tragic story of sexual abuse at the hands of a revered Catholic priest, Father Oliver O'Grady. Using interviews with O'Grady himself, confessions from the victims and their families, and videotaped legal depositions of O'Grady's superiors, Berg reveals a disturbing portrait of sin, corruption, betrayal, and innocence forever lost.
- Frontline: Hand of God (dvd) In recent decades, more than 10,000 children reportedly weresexually abused by Catholic priests in the US. From behind theheadlines, filmmaker Joe Cultrera tells the very personal story of howthe crisis affected his family. It is the intimate story of how hisbrother, Paul, was molested in the 1960s by a priest who alsoreportedly abused nearly 100 other children. In an emotional film, the Cultrera family tells their story of faith betrayed.
Domestic Violence / Family Violence
- To Love, Honor & Obey (streaming, Academic Video Online) This film explores the social, psychological and cultural factors that contribute to violence against women regardless of ethnicity or economic background. Survivors, safe house administrators, counselors, police officers, and male abusers in counseling explore the many factors that contribute to the pervasiveness of this tragic aspect of American family life.
- Domestic violence: which way out? (streaming, Academic Video Online) With domestic violence a growing problem in our society, one community's successful counseling program is becoming a national model. Bellevue, Washington developed a system in which first-time offenders can forego criminal charges and conviction in exchange for undergoing intensive treatment. This approach has resulted in a repeat offense rate of only 4% among those completing treatment.
- Understanding abusive men (streaming, Academic Video Online) Ms. Kabitsi defines abusive behavior and illustrates the general pattern of abuse in relationships. She further describes three main types of abusive men. Treatment options and recommendations for interacting with these men are discussed.
- Room Full of Men (streaming, Academic Video Online) Why are men violent toward women? How can they change? A Room Full of Men is a riveting documentary that examines a group of men with a history of abuse towards women, and their efforts to change. The film follows three men who have joined a program to help them change their lives.
- Terror at home (streaming, Academic Video Online) The statistics are shocking. One in three women face the threat of domestic abuse. Thirty-seven per cent of emergency hospital visits by women are a result of domestic violence. In the United States, 1500 women are murdered each year by their husbands or boyfriends. This film provides an unflinching look at some of the personal stories that lie behind these statistics.
- Behind Closed Doors: Children Who Witness Domestic Violence (streaming, Kanopy) This video addresses the impact that witnessing domestic violence has on the developing brain of infants and children and demonstrates the effect on their behaviour and relationships and the long term consequences for their future.
- Behind closed doors (streaming, Academic Video Online) Behind Closed Doors is an in-depth examination of domestic violence from a very personal perspective. It focuses on David, an abuser, and Margaret, a victim, who each discuss their difficult childhoods, their low self esteem, their feelings of shame, and their determination to break the patterns of violence that have governed their lives.
- Assessing for domestic violence (streaming, Academic Video Online) In this program, Michele Harway explores violence in marriages and examines Lenore Walker's cycle of violence. Harway explains how to assess a client who is currently in an abusive situation in an initial interview.
- Stories from The Riverside: Women Jailed for Killing Their Abusers (streaming, Academic Video Online) This documentary visits Gatesville Penitentiary in Texas, where three female inmates convicted of murder and serving sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years describe the domestic violence that would eventually bring them to prison. Sonia, Brenda and Lee Ann relate in their own words stories of the isolation and fear that bound them to their threatening husbands. From their stories, a pattern of violence emerges, creating, in effect, a portrait of family violence in America today.
- Battered and Broken: Victims of Domestic Violence (streaming, Academic Video Online) Dianne Schwartz was traumatized by an abusive husband. She tells her story of gradual escape and healing from this living nightmare. Now, Dianne Schwartz is the founder of the non-profit organization Educating Against Domestic Violence and is reaching out to help other women.
- She Made Me Mad: Inside the Mind of the Abused and Abuser (streaming, Academic Video Online) his documentary, by producer Amanda Flowers, is about domestic violence and the mind of the abused and abuser.
- Fighting for control (streaming, Academic Video Online) Two women escaping from abusive and violent male partners, have set up house together in South London and are trying to build a future there both for themselves and for their five children. One of the women hopes to become a professional boxer, but her greatest wish is to keep violence out of the home.
- Intimate Partner Violence: Understanding Factors that Impact Survivors (streaming, Academic Video Online) Intimate partner violence and abuse is rooted in a power imbalance between individuals, within families and in society. When one person is controlled and/or considered less worthy than another one – because they are a vulnerable person or part of a vulnerable population – there is the potential for abuse. That is why we all need to work to prevent violence and to build a society where abuse of power is not tolerated. By seeing intimate partner violence and abuse for what it is "” a crime "” we can all take responsibility and work together as a community to stop the violence.
- Intimate Partner Violence: Creating Opportunities to Have Conversations About It (streaming, Academic Video Online) Intimate partner violence and abuse is rooted in a power imbalance between individuals, within families and in society. When one person is controlled and/or considered less worthy than another one – because they are a vulnerable person or part of a vulnerable population – there is the potential for abuse. That is why we all need to work to prevent violence and to build a society where abuse of power is not tolerated. By seeing intimate partner violence and abuse for what it is "” a crime "” we can all take responsibility and work together as a community to stop the violence.
- Domestic Abuse: Caught on Camera (streaming, Academic Video Online) Panorama reveals harrowing footage and other evidence of domestic violence incidents that now account for a third of all recorded assaults with injury in England and Wales. Filmed by police response teams wearing body-worn video cameras, this new style of evidence gathering is helping to bring perpetrators to justice. But years of coercive control and terror often lie behind the violence; Panorama hears from wives, mothers and children who have also endured non-violent domestic abuse, which is now likely to be made a criminal offence in its own right.
- The Burning Bed (dvd) Farrah Fawcett stars in one of her most critically acclaimed roles as Francine Hughes, a Michigan mother of three - and a battered wife. On the night of March 9, 1977, she is driven to murder. She sets afire the gasoline soaked bedroom where her ex-husband Mickey (Paul LeMat) is sleeping - then confesses to the police. Based on a true story, this unforgettable film is a searing dramatization spanning twelve tormented years of family life. Franncine grows from a spirited 16-year-old into a shattered woman, as Mickey changes from a loving husband into a man warped by his own violence. Despite divorce and attempted reconciliations, Mickey's unceasing brutality ignites Francine's constant fear for her own life - until she lights a match.
Elder Abuse
- Domestic violence and elder abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) Domestic violence and abuse of the elderly can happen anywhere in big cities, small towns and the suburbs. It is a shameful problem, but unfortunately not a unique or new problem. Includes guidelines specific to healthcare.
- A House Divided: Elderly Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) Through four portraits, A House Divided sheds light on the hidden tragedy of elder abuse. The abuse itself takes many forms, ranging from willful neglect to financial exploitation to physical attack. The families depicted come from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds.
- A House Divided: Caregiver Stress and Elder Abuse (streaming: Academic Video Online) Through 4 moving portraits, this short documentary sheds light on the tragedy of caregiver stress and elder abuse. The abuse takes many forms, ranging from wilful neglect and financial exploitation to physical assault. The film portrays the emotional complexity of family relationships that can lead to abuse of the elderly, the anguish and isolation of its victims, and the need for community understanding and support.
- Consequences of Elder Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) This video, from the Preventing Elder Abuse: Helping Keep Residents Safe produced by Medcom, is about the consequences of elder abuse.
- Elder Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) There are 700,000-1.2 million cases of elder abuse annually in the US, and internationally 2-10% of patients over 65 years old report a history of maltreatment. Less than 10% of the estimated elder abuse cases are reported.
- Suspecting Abuse (streaming, Academic Video Online) This video, from the Preventing Elder Abuse: Helping Keep Residents Safe produced by Medcom, is about what to do when you suspect elder abuse.
- Preventing Elder Abuse series (streaming, Academic Video Online) This video, from the Preventing Elder Abuse: Helping Keep Residents Safe produced by Medcom, is about neglect of elderly patients.
- Amour (dvd) Octogenarian music teachers Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-LouisTrintignant had settled into a deservedly comfortable retirementwithin their Paris apartment. When she suffers a debilitating stroke,however, he is faced with the reality of having to cope alone with her inevitable decline.
