See this film: The Foster Boy @ the Coolidge
When you think of the land that gave us Heidi, cuckoo
clocks, and cheese, the topic of child abuse is not likely to come to mind.
Nonetheless, from 1800 to the 1950s Switzerland farmed out hundreds of
thousands of orphans and wayward youths to workhouses where they served as
virtual slaves. In a presentation by the Goethe Institut, Swiss filmmaker
Markus Imboden dramatizes this Dickensian injustice with this tale of Max, a
12-year-old boy sold to a farm family, where he is forced to work and treated
brutally. A teacher notices his musical gift, but Max's troubles are just
beginning.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline
:: Sunday, February 24 @ 11 am :: $10; $7 members
and seniors :: 617.734.2501 or coolidge.org