³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Born Survivors Season

The Born Survivors season returns with more hard-hitting, inspirational documentaries in which young people who live with serious issues reveal their strategies for survival. The films tell extraordinary stories of young people surviving whatever life throws at them, giving them a unique opportunity to talk candidly about their experiences and determination to change their lives.

Can't Bully Me

Can't Bully Me follows four young people aged 12-14 as they endeavour to overcome the traumatic effects of bullying. They attend a network of specialised centres for kids who've been so badly affected by their experiences that they can no longer attend mainstream school.

Filmed over eight months, the programme has unique access to centres in Cambridge and North West London where Billy, Adam, Phoenix and Toby are helped to come to terms with the past, overcome their fears and rebuild their confidence so that they can return to school or mainstream life as soon as possible.

FS

A Minnow Films production

Born Survivors Season

My Soldier's Story (w/t)

In July 2009, 16-year-old Vicky got engaged to her soldier boyfriend Craig, during his two-week rest and recuperation from his first tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Less than three weeks later, on 30 July, 18-year-old Craig was hit by a roadside explosive. He lost both legs and an arm, becoming the youngest British serviceman to be injured in Afghanistan and one of only three British soldiers with a triple amputation to have survived his injuries.

Despite her youth, and the tremendous responsibility she's taking on, Vicky remains desperately in love with her fiancé and has made a commitment not just to share a home with him, but also eventually to marry him. This documentary follows Craig and Vicky in the first few months of their new life together as Craig copes with the consequences of his horrendous injuries and Vicky comes to terms with her decision to "stand by her man".

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Front Desk Publicity

Matchlight

Born Survivors Season

Kara Tointon – Don’t Call Me Stupid

Actress Kara Tointon is dyslexic. She has struggled to read throughout her life and has avoided confronting how widely dyslexia has affected her.

In this documentary, Kara faces up to the extent to which being dyslexic has affected her, both as an actress and as a young woman. She realises how different her life could be when she compares how she lives and works to her non-dyslexic cast-mates, friends and family.

As an actress, Kara has always found it hard to learn scripts. She's worked hard for it not to stand in her way but admits that for her, auditions have always been nerve-wracking, and the idea of sight-reading terrifying. Now, she embarks on potentially life-changing coaching as she sets out to improve her reading ability and deal with the wider implications that the condition has had on all aspects of her life.

Kara says, "For years, it took me much longer to learn my EastEnders lines than my cast-mates. Since I left the show, it's been even more of a struggle to read and remember lines for last-minute auditions. I was really excited about being given the opportunity to explore how exactly dyslexia has affected my life. I hope this experience will teach me how to manage my dyslexia and to also fulfil one of my biggest dreams - to read a book from cover to cover."

For the first time, Kara will confront her dyslexia head on. Will the coaching help her address her anxieties around sight-reading and line-learning? And will she fulfil her dream of reading a novel from start to finish?

SB

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Productions

Born Survivors Season

Love Me, Love My Face

Love Me, Love My Face follows the story of 25-year-old Jono, who was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome – a rare genetic condition which affected the way his facial bones developed while he was still in his mother's womb. The condition has affected his hearing and the way he looks; he has no cheekbones, which means his eyes droop downwards. However, this hasn't stopped Jono finding love with his beautiful girlfriend, Laura.

Treacher Collins makes Jono stand out, but what really sets him apart is his attitude to life. He was given up for adoption by his birth family just 36 hours after he was born and the programme follows him on his journey to try and find his parents to show them, and the rest of the world, that he's done really well for himself and he's happy just the way he is.

FS

A Special Editions Films production

Stacey Dooley Investigates

Stacey Dooley, one of the stars of the hit ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Three series, Blood, Sweat And T-Shirts and her follow-up series Stacey Dooley Investigates, returns with two new moving and insightful documentaries exploring the issue of child exploitation.

Kids With Guns

An estimated 30,000 children have been used as soldiers during the 14-year conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. No one knows how many thousands are still in the forests, enslaved by armed militias. With the help of local charity workers, Stacey Dooley meets children who have been soldiers and hears their personal accounts of what life as a child solider entailed. She visits a rescue centre where boys and girls arrive daily, rescued from guerrilla militia units as well as the Congolese National Army.

Stacey meets other boy soldiers and hears their terrifying experiences first hand. Accompanying a local charity she goes to a frontline Congolese National Army camp, where she witnesses the rescue of two boys. With the charity, she takes one boy home as he's reunited with his family, from whom he was stolen over eight years ago.

Stacey's journey depicts the terrifying complexities of war where young kids have been separated physically and emotionally from their law-abiding families.

EB

Ricochet Productions

Stacey Dooley Investigates

Stacey Dooley, one of the stars of the hit ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Three series, Blood, Sweat And T-Shirts and her follow-up series Stacey Dooley Investigates, returns with two new moving and insightful documentaries exploring the issue of child exploitation.

Child Sex Trafficking In Cambodia

Stacey Dooley travels to Cambodia, where an estimated third of the country's 80,000 sex workers are under 18, to investigate under-age sex trafficking.

Her journey begins in the capital's red light district, where thousands of young girls are thought to be working. Here she sees how these youngsters are paraded in front of local Cambodian men in the capital's bars. Stacey also meets a young girl who tells how she was trafficked when she was just 12 years old. Now 18, she agrees to take Stacey on a trip back to the street brothels and gangland areas where sex is the only commodity that's recognised.

Stacey sees for herself how poverty is driving adults to sell their own children into this horrific underworld, from which it is hard to recover. But she also sees how, with the help of charity workers, it is possible for these girls to lift themselves out of the mire and start a new life.

EB

Ricochet Productions