Strona główna Film about Coming of Age with Courage

Film about Coming of Age with Courage

07 sierpnia 2025

Adulthood doesn’t begin with an ID card—it begins where we have the conditions to take our first independent step. That is why the Foundation for Good Initiatives has assumed social patronage of the documentary On Their Own Terms (Na własnych zasadach), directed by Tadeusz Chudy—a moving portrait of a brother and sister leaving foster care and learning adulthood in their own way. The film gives voice to young people whose everyday lives often remain unseen—and invites a conversation about how we can help them begin life on their own terms.

What the film is about

Some stories stay with us long after we leave the cinema—not because they end with spectacle, but because they are true. So it is with On Their Own Terms: a tender, courageous account of siblings stepping into adulthood without a ready-made script.

The film’s protagonists—a sister and brother—grew up in foster care. She leaves her children’s home just after midnight on her eighteenth birthday. He needs more time to decide when to live independently. There is no grandstanding in their story—only tremendous strength, determination, and love, which becomes their safe harbour. This is a film about the courage of growing up, about kinship, and about the moment when real adulthood begins: when we learn to live “on our own terms.”

Director Tadeusz Chudy captures, with unusual sensitivity, the threshold—the fine line between childhood and adulthood—that for many young people leaving care is not only a challenge, but a test of endurance. Together with producer Marta Wierzbicka and the filmmaking team, he has created a work that is not only a documentary about two young protagonists, but also a universal story about finding one’s place in the world.

Why we have taken on social patronage

For years, the Foundation for Good Initiatives has supported young adults leaving foster care. We see their daily reality—striving for independence, lacking support, and having to grow up fast. We know how thin the line can be between “I’m managing” and “I can’t go on.”

That is why we chose to become the film’s social partner. Because this is a film that speaks in their voice. It reveals a truth we too rarely discuss: that legal adulthood is just a date on a calendar, while adulthood itself is a process in which each of us needs companionship and understanding.

For us, patronage of this film is more than a collaboration. It is a way to show what stepping into independence really looks like—without gloss, yet with hope. It is also a reminder that young people leaving children’s homes do not need pity; they need trust and opportunity.

What we want to achieve

Through social patronage of the film, we aim to:

• raise public awareness of the challenges faced by young people moving towards independence;

• inspire practical action that gives them a sense of safety and a chance to grow;

• build bridges of understanding between the world of adults and the world of young people who are only just entering adulthood.

Because adulthood does not begin with an ID card. It begins when someone believes we can make it.

Where to see the film

On Their Own Terms premiered in May at the 65th Krakow Film Festival to warm audience acclaim. It will tour several venues, including Kino Atlantic in Warsaw on 26 September, with a post-screening Q&A featuring the filmmakers, protagonists, and the Foundation for Good Initiatives—a rare chance to discuss the courage, fear, and hope behind the journey to independence.

Together we can do more

On Their Own Terms is more than a film—it is an invitation to conversation. To reflect on what growing up looks like when there is nowhere to go back to. As a Foundation, we want that conversation to continue—and to lead to change that allows every young person in Poland to enter adulthood without fear, with a sense of safety and support.

Because no one should have to grow up alone.