The first sentence in this opening film clip is a voiceover from one of the women who staff The Lysychansk Center for the Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children. She says, “In eastern Ukraine, people still feel the echo of war. Life has always been hard here, but the war [the annexation of Crimea war] made things even worse.” How do you understand the phrase “the echo of war?”
After watching this opening scene, what new information did you learn about this region? How does this information expand your understanding of what home and family might mean to the children and caretakers featured in this film?
Why do you think the filmmaker chose A House Made of Splinters as the title for this film?
CLIP 2
How is the shelter attempting to build a home for these children?
What connections do they make with one another? Would you define this as a family?
How is this home and family disrupted by the violent conflict around them?
CLIP 3
The narrator shares something she recognizes over her years of working at the shelter in this scene:
“When you’ve worked here for a long time, you start to notice an underlying pattern. A vulnerable child is removed from a broken home and brought here. Parents, who cannot better themselves, eventually lose their parental rights.Time flies. The girl grows up and becomes a mother herself, but times are hard. She also starts drinking. She copies what she saw in her childhood. One day, she returned to our shelter, but now, she’s here to visit her kids. We meet again, and she asks: ‘Do you remember me?’ Yes, I do. I wish I didn’t, but I do.”
Ask the students to define, in their own words, the term “intergenerational trauma” using context clues from the opening clip and background knowledge.
Share this definition of intergenerational trauma published by the American Psychological Association. Have them compare and contrast their definitions with the APA definition.
Have students share their reactions to this clip within the context of intergenerational trauma either in small groups or in a brief written reflection?
CLIP 4
In this last scene, we see the transition process of one child out of the shelter. But we also see so much more.
What stands out to you from this film clip?
What feelings and emotions does this film clip touch in you?
Sources
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Blueshift
Blueshift is a team of education specialists with background in environmental and social impact work. The team recognizes and builds on the power of documentary film in reaching broad audiences to spark energy for deep and lasting social change. The team works with filmmakers, photographers and writers to develop innovative educational strategies, experiences, tools and resources that bring stories off the screen and into viewers' lives.
