Just A Boy

Just A Boy Is Moving Forward
We’re pleased to share some positive news that after a funding setback late last year, our feature-documentary, Just A Boy is back on track. Your encouragement and generosity during this pause kept the project alive – thank you!

Help Us Close the Final Gap
Your support to date, along with the commitment of our outstanding creative team, means that we are in a reasonably strong position to begin principal production in the second half of the year. We are now in the process of raising the remaining (achievable) funds that are needed to complete the film.

Why Your Support Matters
Just A Boy tells a story that thousands of Australian boys and men desperately need to hear – that they are not alone, and that help is available. It’s estimated that one in four Australian men have been affected by sexual abuse. Our team is looking forward to creating a quality work of art which will reveal the scale of a problem that is destroying so many lives in homes and suburbs all around Australia.

At the heart of the film is my brother George’s story. He is committed to having his story told so that ‘others won’t have to go through what I went through.’ Our youngest brother, Roman, and I felt a deep pang of sadness when George told us that if he had seen a film such as Just A Boy earlier in his life, it could have spared him years of silent suffering. (And things may well have worked out very differently for our family.)

The Need Is Urgent
Just A Boy has the potential to reach those who are suffering in silence right now. Through a deep dive into one family’s experience of abuse, the film aims to reveal the profound impact on survivors and their families, whether family members are aware of the situation, or not.

Make a Tax Deductible Difference
As the end of the financial year approaches, we’re hoping you might tell your friends and colleagues that they could make an important difference through a meaningful, tax deductible contribution. A donation, large or small, will help bring Just A Boy to life and help to protect future generations of Australian boys and men.

Together, we can make the film, Just A Boy – and make a difference.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Sophia Turkiewicz
Director/screenwriter

DOC AUSTRALIA UPDATE
Our project has recently been given some important attention at a range of national and international events. The Sizzle reel/Trailer was presented at ECPAT Conference in Thailand. (ECPAT is a global network of 122 organisations in 104 countries working to end sexual exploitation and abuse of children worldwide.)

Robert Fitzgerald, AM, Patron of SAMSN (Survivors and Mates Support Network) opened a Round Table Conference in Canberra with a screening of the Trailer, and a discussion about the project. The conference included professionals working in Government, legal, community, medical and mental health areas all around Australia.

The Trailer was also a highlight at a National Men’s Health gathering in Brisbane, organised by Australian Men’s Health Forum, the peak body for men’s health in Australia, which included a wide range of health professionals and representatives from community and voluntary sectors.

And two upcoming events in support of the project have recently been organised by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which will help us draw attention to the project within the legal profession.

The project is currently being assessed for main production funding by Screen Australia and Screen Tasmania. If successful (and providing we can raise a relatively small amount of funding by the end of the year) we are planning to film in Tasmania in February/March of 2026. A film distributor has already made a commitment for a national theatrical release of Just A Boy, once it’s completed. We’re, of course, thrilled that the project is getting traction and is now well and truly on the national (and international) radar.

So far we’ve crowd-sourced over half of the private finance we need but, as you can see, time is now of the essence, so please let your friends and acquaintances know about the project, and provide them with a link to the DocumentaryAustralia website: https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/just-a-boy/
This will help us secure the budget required to make this important film. Every (tax-deductable) contribution – large or small – will help us achieve our goal. Contributions will, of course, be acknowledged in the credits of the film. We hugely appreciate the support you’ve given us to date – we couldn’t have got this far without you. And we’re looking forward to the day we’ll see you at a screening of Just A Boy, with your own credits up there on the screen!

OurPartner, Samsn recently gave our project welcome visibility through screening our Just a Boy Sizzle Reel/trailer at the start of a Round Table Conference in Canberra, attended by players in political, legal and health areas.

I’m writing to thank you for so generously donating to Just A Boy. Some of you are people I’d lost touch with over the years – I’ve been so moved by your gestures of support, including all those ‘Anonymous’ supporters – I thank you all.

Now the good news. We’ve received a $50,000 Production Grant from Shark Island Foundation. Here’s the Foundation’s response to the project: ‘You’ve brought together an incredible team to tell this difficult story. Sophia’s creative direction is evident in the beautiful tease reel. We’re grateful that Sophia and her family are willing to share their story in this way. Also great to see the partners you are already working with.’
Along with the Foundation’s welcome boost, and other funds already raised, we’re in a reasonably healthy position to proceed in getting the film made – but we’re not quite there yet – so please let people know they can support Just A Boy through the Documentary Australia website

Thanks again for your generosity – I can’t tell you how much it means to me.

Sophia Turkiewicz
Director

In 2024 Roar Film came on board as the project’s production company. We were successful in securing Screen Tasmania development funding in October 2024. The development funding is being used to film foundational interviews with family members and prepare pitch collateral including a new sizzle, finance plan and pitch documents. It is intended that the project will be pitched to theatrical distributors and broadcasters in the first quarter of 2025. With finances locked in by mid-2025. We are actively seeking funding partners now.

SAMSN, Australia’s leading organisation for male survivors of child sexual base have confirmed their support for the project and will be instrumental to outreach and impact strategies developed in early 2025.