Alicia

Its not easy to find a foster family for you an orphanage supervisor explains to nineyearold Alicia After all you are a very special girl Alicia is crying Im not special Im 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 Shes been living in an orphanage since the age of five and they have never managed to find a foster family for her In Alicia 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 Alicias yearning and powerlessness are palpable in these observations which painfully reveal the effects of having no prospects