Award Winning Documentary

   The Children Next Door

Critic’s Score: A – “Heartbreaking and cathartic…By putting a very human face to a widespread epidemic, Block and ‘The Children Next Door’ both humanize and celebrate the children who survive horrific family tragedies.” 

– Mark Peikert, BACKSTAGE

The first film to view domestic violence through the lense of childhood

Our award-winning documentary, THE CHILDREN NEXT DOOR (TCND), is the first film to look at domestic violence through the lens of childhood – growing up in a home with it. It shines the light on a hidden epidemic that impacts 1 billion lives globally (1 in 7) but has less than 10% awareness and few widely available solutions to curb it: Childhood Domestic Violence (CDV). It spotlights for the first time domestic violence’s most silent and helpless victims: the children.

Childhood Domestic Violence The Children Next Door documentary
Childhood Domestic Violence The Children Next Door Discussion Guide

The film comes paired with a Film Discussion Guide, which guides the user step by step through the process of hosting a formal or informal screening and navigating a meaningful post-screening discussion.

The film was screened at 45 leading film festivals and received multiple awards, which include:

  • Winner – Special Jury Prize – Seattle True independent Film Festival
  • Winner – Special Jury Award – DOC NYC
  • Winner – Best Documentary – Paterson Falls Film Festival
  • Official Selection – Hollywood Film Festival
  • Official Selection – Breckenridge Festival of Film
  • Special Jury Mention – St. Louis International Film Festival
  • Official Selection – STARZ Denver Film Festival

Spotlighting the Hidden Epidemic of CDV

TRIGGER WARNING! The content in this video may be strongly disturbing to some viewers and may trigger strong emotions and reactions. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. NOT recommended for viewers under 15 years of age without parental supervision. 

TCND is a stirring portrayal of 2 generations of Childhood Domestic Violence (#CDV) – which is the SINGLE BEST PREDICTOR of domestic violence later in life – and its insidious cyclical nature. It takes us on a young family’s journey to uncover the TRUTH that lies beneath a recurring cycle of violence and the solutions to end it.

What People Say About TCND

The Children Next Door is a powerful and stunning documentary that shows us just how much children are affected by family violence.

– Sandra Graham-Bermann, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology & Women’s Studies University of Michigan

Wow – intense and powerful! The Children Next Door is so well put together in that it clearly demonstrates why we need to make aware this epidemic of child domestic violence, educate about CDV, share our personal stories of CDV, and prepare to serve the children in our own sphere of geographic influence.

- Sherrie Winstanley, Executive Director, S.H.A.D.E. (Safe Housing And Directed Empowerment) Inc.

Doug Block’s searing short…attains a level of pathos as deep as any feature-length documentary.

– Anthony Kaufman, Sundance NOW BLOG

It’s a masterpiece – smart, tough, fearless, miraculously compact. 

– David Schrader, Seattle’s The Stranger

Doug Block’s searing short…attains a level of pathos as deep as any feature-length documentary.

-– Anthony Kaufman, Sundance NOW BLOG

Doug Block’s searing short…attains a level of pathos as deep as any feature-length documentary.

-– Anthony Kaufman, Sundance NOW BLOG

TCND is a building block for other groundbreaking tools

The film was intended to be a stand-alone tool for awareness-building purposes that simply documents and chronicles one family’s harrowing journey through and beyond domestic violence and CDV. But as it came together, it organically evolved into so much more.

Taking on a life of its own, the story line of the film became an unscripted real-life case study of our groundbreaking evidence-based FREE, simple, self-administered 40-minute online training program, CHANGE A LIFE (CAL), in action. The FREE program, spearheaded by the leading researcher in the field, can train any caring adult how to step in with simple support and messages of hope and become THE ONE to change the life of a child impacted by CDV.

In addition, TCND supplements and pairs well with most of our tools, including CAL, our BE THE ONE training for professionals, and our LIES & TRUTHS WORKSHEETS.