ORPHAN MYTH
What if most children living in orphanages are not actually orphans? Studies reveal that nearly 80 percent of institutionalized children worldwide have at least one living parent, challenging long-held assumptions about why children are separated from their families. For many, the underlying cause is not abandonment or a lack of love, but poverty and limited access to resources.
Traveling from communities across Africa to India and Brazil, ORPHAN MYTH follows families, advocates, and changemakers working to transform systems of institutional care and reunite children with their families. Through deeply personal stories, the documentary examines how well-intentioned practices can perpetuate separation while illuminating alternatives that strengthen families rather than divide them. Directed by North Shore, O‘ahu filmmaker Keoni TeTawa Bowthorpe, an award-winning director, cinematographer, and screenwriter, ORPHAN MYTH challenges audiences to reconsider conventional ideas about orphanhood and charitable giving, while affirming a powerful principle: whenever safely possible, every child deserves the opportunity to grow up within a family.
Tickets
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Thursday, November 5, 2026
6:00 PM• Consolidated Theatres Kapolei
Credits
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Thu, Nov 5
Event Info
- Run Time:
- 81 mins
- Country:
- India, Ireland, Hawaiʻi (United States), Brazil, Eswatini
- Genre:
- Documentary
- Language(s):
- English, Swati
Location
Consolidated Theatres Kapolei
Kapolei
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