Angela was born on Lihir Island, in Papua New Guinea, just as a gold mine was about to be built. Twenty years later, the mine has brought huge benefits to Lihirians, but also pollution. Martens was born in Jelgava, on the outskirts of the Latvian capital Riga, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After joining the European Union in 2000, Latvia's economy had been hit hard by the Eurocrisis; Marten's own dream is to become a chef.

Other titles in this series are:

2. Panjy, Amelia, Justin, and Vusumzi - Revisits four children in India, Norway, and South Africa, who were born in 1992, the year of the first Rio Earth Summit, and measures the impact of globalization on their lives.

3. Stephanie, Erdo, and Kay-Kay - Revisits three children in the United States, Kenya, and China, who were born in 1992.



Grade Level: 7-12, College, Adults
US Release Date: 2013     Copyright Date: 2012
DVD ISBN: 1-93777-268-3

Reviews "Zero, Ten, Twenty offers a gritty, realistic view of the slow grind of progress internationally. This film underscores the ecological contributions of family, community, governance and culture in the successes and sometimes the continued struggles of children growing up in an uncertain world." Dr. Deborah J. Johnson, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, Editor, Vulnerable Children: Global Challenges in Education, Health, Well-Being, and Child Rights "This is a truly remarkable film. It illuminates differences in class, gender, race, and culture. It brings to life changes in childhood, in work, and in the environment. It is a must-see across fields like education, psychology, sociology, international development, women's studies, environmental studies, globalization studies, and more." Steven J. Klees, Professor of International and Comparative Education, University of Maryland, Former President of the U.S. Comparative and International Education Society, Co-author of The World Bank and Education: Critiques and Alternatives "Zero, Ten, Twenty characterizes the ongoing, perhaps increasing, challenges of ensuring the well-being of children across the world, even when politicians pledged to improve it 20 years ago. It also shows the absolute necessity of the commitment of parents to their children in order for their children to have a chance at survival, whatever that might mean in a particular place. While governments can provide some opportunities or supports, it is still up to the parents to give children the love and attention they need to grow up healthy and happy." Dr. Robert Goerge, Senior Research Fellow at Chapin Hall, Senior Fellow at Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, co-Founder of the International Society for Child Indicators "These beautiful films evoke the complex tangle of environmental, economic, cultural, social and personal issues in the life of an extraordinary group of ordinary young people...A profoundly moving series, which captures not only the conflict between economic necessity and the ecological imperative, but also the ways in which this fundamental contradiction is inflected by the determination and idealism of young people. It offers rich material for impassioned discussion, since there is no self-evident way out of the developmental paradox, whereby we grow rich individually, and are impoverished collectively." Jeremy Seabrook, Journalist and Writer, Author, Children of a New World: Society, Culture, and Globalization and Children