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GIRLHOOD tells two coming-of-age stories from the real America: Shanae, ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys, responded by drinking and drugging, and then graduated to murder, with the stabbing death of a friend, at age 11. Megan, whose mother abandoned her to turn tricks to support her ravaging heroin addiction, ran away from ten different foster homes before being arrested for attacking another foster child with a box cutter. Both girls ended up in the Waxter Juvenile Facility, home to Maryland's most violent juvenile offenders. It is here that their journeys really begin.
SOURCE:http://www.studioclub.com/sxsw.htm
Shanae and Megan’s struggle to come out of the system and integrate back into society is captured in this powerful documentary. A captivating and emotional reflection of how the criminal justice system works and fails both young and old, and the issues with the way the system categorizes people in its correctional methods. Through first person interviews the audience is able to delve into the individual tribulations the girls face in their attempts to find solid ground in a turbulent environment. Liz Garbus’s minimalist style draws the audience into Shanae and Megan’s journey out of a juvenile institution and their determination to reintegrate into the outside world.
-Iliana Domnguez-Franco