‘Finding the Way Home’ Focuses on the Painful Realities of Institutionalized Children

Approximately eight-million children are currently growing up in orphanages and institutions around the world. The telling documentary Finding the Way Home, debuts Wednesday, December 18 on HBO.

Inspired by the work of J.K. Rowling’s foundation Lumos, directed by Emmy winning and Oscar nominated Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill and narrated by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne, the film shines a light on eight extraordinary stories of hope and resilience.

Given intimate access to families across the globe, the filmmakers feature children who have found their way to loving homes after experiencing the traumas of child trafficking and institutionalized life.

Heartbreaking and enlightening, the documentary travels city streets and dirt roads, brings us into overcrowded children’s institutions and shares the joy of loving foster homes and reunited households.

Family Portrait on the roof of Luciana’s place (Brazil) Photo: Brendan Bannon/Courtesy of HBO

Sharing insights along the complex path these children have taken into different corners of an often corrupt world – from families who have been separated in Haiti, to the social workers who have helped reunite them in Nepal, to the dedicated foster parents who have taken in children with stigmatizing disabilities in Moldova and Bulgaria – the film takes a deeper look at the harsh realities of the eight-million children currently hidden away in orphanages and institutions.

Isus with his foster mother, Dima (Bulgaria) Courtesy of HBO

As detailed in the film, the shocking truth is that more than 80% of the children in orphanages today are not truly orphans, but rather, have been separated from their families as a result of poverty, disabilities, disaster, war, drug addiction, trafficking or discrimination.

The film offers a distressing portrait of the circumstances that bring children to institutions while instilling hope for a world where every child has a family and a home.

Finding the Way Home, Premiere, Wednesday, December 18, 9/8, HBO