New Film to Focus on Delco Child Abuse

Angela Wolf is a newly-minted Temple University film school graduate. After getting her diploma in January, she's getting to work on a documentary film that chronicles the life of a friend who she says was abused by his mother and allowed to fall through the cracks of bureaucracies in Delaware County.

The Story

Wolf is directing a documentary that she says will show the struggles of a young teen who says he was beaten by his mother, a doctor, as early as age six. According to Wolf, the boy named Nabeel tried to get help from an early age until he left home at age 17. According to Wolf, the teen's mother was arrested, convicted, and sentenced, but was out of jail within 24 hours, leaving the boy in her custody and care.

Wolf says the film will chronicle Nabeel's efforts to get help through local police departments, the Delaware County courts and Child Protective Services.

According to a Facebook page set up to help raise funds to produce the film "this documentary explores a young-adult's abusive childhood, the legal system that failed to protect him, and his current search for his sexual identity."

A Whole New Generation of Filmmakers

What sets Wolf's project apart from the documentaries of years gone by is the way her production team is going about funding the movie.

They are putting their appeal online. Instead of making a pitch to a producer with deep pockets full of cash, they are asking individuals to pitch in whatever they can to help pay the production costs.

Wolf and her production team are not getting paid for their work, but they are trying to meet the costs of producing the documentary.

Nabeel tells his story and Wolf and the film's producer tell the story of the film on Indiegogo.com, a crowdsourcing website designed to help fund independent films.

Finding New Ways to Get the Word Out

Wolf, Nabeel and the film's producers are using social media to spread the word and raise the money needed for the movie. It was a posting on the Springfield Patch Facebook page about the project that led to this article.

The fundraising site offers premium gifs for different levels of donations ranging from $5-$6,000.

Click on the video clips attached to this article to learn more about A Bird Without Wings and Director Angela Wolf's mission to tell a story that she is all too familiar for many young people who go in search of help in Delaware County.