Richard Kotuk

Travis

Richard Kotuk

Seven-year-old Travis has AIDS. Filmmaker Richard Kotuk invites us to witness Travis’s struggle. With his intense yearning for life and understanding of death, Travis describes the disease as a “monster inside of me: I’m gonna fight it. I will fight.” Supported by his grandmother and his community of cousins, Travis fights AIDS for an opportunity to be a boy with normal childhood dreams. An unsentimental portrait, Travis questions our own understanding of death and passion for life. ~ Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The portrait of a ten-year-old African-American boy with a warm personality, an infectious smile and full-blown AIDS. ~ IMDb

Children of Darkness

Richard Kotuk, Ara Chekmayan

Peter Thomas

A significant number of American children and teenagers - from all social backgrounds - suffer from mental disorders, schizophrenia, autism and emotional problems, leading them to isolation from society while treating their issues in mental health facilities. But there's no end in sight for those young individuals when they face obstacles and mistreatment in inadequate places under the supervision of careless and inexperienced professionals. The documentary follows some of those public mental institutions and another private center dealing with troubled kids and reveals what's wrong with their procedures, and the irreparable harm they cause in those patients.

GI Junkies: The Forgotten Veterans

Richard Kotuk

Originally released in 1976, GI Junkies: The Forgotten Veterans is a film by Richard Kotuk which examines the crisis that was the return of Vietnam veterans who received no hero's welcome because of their addiction to drugs.