“Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children,” which world premiered in Hot Doc’s Hidden Histories sidebar, is among several titles at the festival that illuminate historical institutional abuse of or injustice toward people through the intimate stories of survivors.
Huronia Regional Center, a now-closed hospital and home for children with developmental disabilities, opened in Orillia (roughly 90 miles from Toronto) in 1876 under a different name. In the mid 20th century, reports of harm to children and recommendations by medical experts to close the institution were not heeded.
In December 2013, a class-action lawsuit brought by former residents of the center against the province of Ontario was settled.
That’s when veteran documentarian Barri Cohen’s ears perked up.
Her father had two sons from his first marriage who had been sent to Huronia in the 1950s. Cohen’s older half-sibling, Adele, asked if she knew about the family connection. The picture was seriously incomplete.
Huronia Regional Center, a now-closed hospital and home for children with developmental disabilities, opened in Orillia (roughly 90 miles from Toronto) in 1876 under a different name. In the mid 20th century, reports of harm to children and recommendations by medical experts to close the institution were not heeded.
In December 2013, a class-action lawsuit brought by former residents of the center against the province of Ontario was settled.
That’s when veteran documentarian Barri Cohen’s ears perked up.
Her father had two sons from his first marriage who had been sent to Huronia in the 1950s. Cohen’s older half-sibling, Adele, asked if she knew about the family connection. The picture was seriously incomplete.
- 5/9/2022
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
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