Kennedy discusses Abu Ghraib, HIV, Iraq War
Kennedy pointed out that there are now programs in place to help affected women as well as sympathetic courts that often take action to facilitate divorces and allow women exclusive rights to children.
"The programs and individuals who intervene make a significant difference in the lives of individual people and are important for us to support in various ways," Kennedy said.
In some cases, however, the family is the source of the problem - as her next clip, from A Boy's Life, exhibited.
A Boy's Life was filmed in Mississippi in the home of a seven-year-old boy with a mental illness that had caused him to kill seven dogs and cats and attempt suicide three times before the time of filming. His grandmother had intervened when he and his brother suffered abuse at the hands of their mother, but after some time, Kennedy realized that their grandmother was really causing the problem.
"I was originally intending to look at changes in welfare, specifically the late 90s changes affecting children who suffer from mental illness who would not be covered under the new welfare law," she said.
"On the surface, [the grandmother] had done a great job. Later it became clear that she was the source of the problem," Kennedy continued. "With social service agencies, when we hear horrible stories about children abused by foster care, it's often a more complex situation than a social worker can assess just from walking in and meeting up with the family.
"The real abuse was much more emotional. She would try to convince [her grandson] he was sick. It's impressions of a period of time, and the film does an effective job of capturing more of the nuances of family dynamics," Kennedy said.
The next film clip that Kennedy showed was from a five-part series called Pandemic about the AIDS epidemic. Kennedy decided to make this film after hanging back in Uganda after a trip under the Clinton administration.
She told the story about a particular woman named Bernadette from the region who had 13 children, 12 of whom died of AIDS, leaving her the sole caretaker of 35 grandchildren. This turned out to be a regular thing. One of Bernadette's neighbors had had seven children, all of whom died of AIDS, and another had 12 out of 15 fall victim.
"The programs and individuals who intervene make a significant difference in the lives of individual people and are important for us to support in various ways," Kennedy said.
In some cases, however, the family is the source of the problem - as her next clip, from A Boy's Life, exhibited.
A Boy's Life was filmed in Mississippi in the home of a seven-year-old boy with a mental illness that had caused him to kill seven dogs and cats and attempt suicide three times before the time of filming. His grandmother had intervened when he and his brother suffered abuse at the hands of their mother, but after some time, Kennedy realized that their grandmother was really causing the problem.
"I was originally intending to look at changes in welfare, specifically the late 90s changes affecting children who suffer from mental illness who would not be covered under the new welfare law," she said.
"On the surface, [the grandmother] had done a great job. Later it became clear that she was the source of the problem," Kennedy continued. "With social service agencies, when we hear horrible stories about children abused by foster care, it's often a more complex situation than a social worker can assess just from walking in and meeting up with the family.
"The real abuse was much more emotional. She would try to convince [her grandson] he was sick. It's impressions of a period of time, and the film does an effective job of capturing more of the nuances of family dynamics," Kennedy said.
The next film clip that Kennedy showed was from a five-part series called Pandemic about the AIDS epidemic. Kennedy decided to make this film after hanging back in Uganda after a trip under the Clinton administration.
She told the story about a particular woman named Bernadette from the region who had 13 children, 12 of whom died of AIDS, leaving her the sole caretaker of 35 grandchildren. This turned out to be a regular thing. One of Bernadette's neighbors had had seven children, all of whom died of AIDS, and another had 12 out of 15 fall victim.
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