Alicia

“It’s not easy to find a foster family for you,” an orphanage supervisor explains to nine-year-old Alicia. “After all, you are a very special girl.” Alicia is crying. “I’m not special. I’m just a girl.” This disturbing scene sets the tone for this film about Alicia, who was taken away from her teenage mother by the Child Welfare Bureau when she was 12 months old. She’s been living in an orphanage since the age of five, and they have never managed to find a foster family for her. InAlicia, we watch as she becomes a teenager, still craving safety and love.
Over the course of three years, filmmaker Maasja Ooms follows her daily life up close. Alicia’s yearning and powerlessness are palpable in these observations, which painfully reveal the effects of having no prospects.

IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary, 2017
Prix Italia – Best Feature, 2018
Best Film, Gdansk DocFilm Festival, 2018
Special Jury Award, Cinema Verité, Iran International Film Festival, 2018
Hartenhuis Award, 2018
Nominated for BANFF 2018, Prix Europe 2018, Best Long Documentary at Dutch Directors Guild
and Gouden Kalf for best feature length long documentary, Netherlands Film Festival, 2018

https://vimeo.com/ceruttifilm/aliciadocumentaryenglishtrailer?share=copy