PBS station WNET is launching the "Chasing the Dream: Poverty and Opportunity in America" initiative with the airing of documentary Broken Places on April 6 at 10 p.m. on PBS. The documentary is produced and directed by Peabody Award winner Roger Weisberg.
This documentary is a culmination of Weisberg's previous documentary subjects across four decades. He revisits subjects who were neglected, abused and struggling to overcome adversity. The film uses a time-lapse to show how childhood trauma shaped their adult lives.
"Some of the film subjects were so scarred by their childhood challenges that they ended up in mental institutions, correctional facilities, drug rehabilitation centers or died prematurely," PBS said in a release. "Some went on to become healthy, successful adults."
"Ernest Hemingway wrote in A Farewell to Arms, 'The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.' Hemingway's observation about adversity and resilience inspired the title of our film and captured the central theme we explore in Broken Places," said Weisberg.
