Aging Out

Teens Leaving Foster Care

Written,produced and directed by Roger Weisberg;
co-produced and co-directed by Vanessa Roth

Navigating the transition from adolescence to adulthood is challenging for even the most mature and privileged youth. For three young people in New York and Los Angeles, making the transition to independent living is considerably more difficult as they "age out" of the foster care system. They suddenly discover that they're on their own for the first time. Aging Out chronicles the daunting obstacles that these veterans of foster care encounter as they are forced to fend for themselves.

Daniella Anderson juggles her college career with the hard reality of raising her newborn child and paying her bills. David Griffin leaves foster care for the streets, goes on a self-destructive drug and crime binge, copes with homelessness and incarceration, and eventually moves to Alaska with the hope of becoming a fisherman. And Risa Bejaramo attends her high school prom and graduates with several scholarships but also battles drug addiction and suffers an emotional breakdown during her freshman year of college.

Although Aging Out presents an intimate and uncensored view of the difficult problems these teenagers face, the film also shows these young people using resiliency they developed during their years "in the system" to take control of their lives. Ultimately, this emotionally complex documentary becomes a deeply affecting portrait of the struggles of three young adults to overcome the scars of their troubled child hoods in order to realize their dreams of independence and fulfillment.

CINE Gold Eagle, 2004
Bronze Plaque, Columbus International Film & Video Festival, 2004

"Highly Recommended. 'Aging Out' illustrates through real life experiences the daunting obstacles that these young American veterans of the foster care encounter as they are forced to fend for themselves" Laroi Lawton, Bronx Community College of the City University of New York for EMRO

56 or 86 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $75. Please specify length when ordering.