ReMoved Nathanael Matanick

“Sometimes someone hurts you so bad it stops hurting at all. Until something makes you feel again and then it all comes back. Every word. Every hurt. Every moment.”

These are the powerful opening words of ReMoved, a short film about the heartbreaking journey of a young girl who is taken from her abusive home and placed into foster care.

ReMoved Nathanael Matanick

Director Nathanael Matanick, also known as Heschle, made the film to give foster carers a glimpse into the inner turmoil of the young lives they are caring for.

‘We made ReMoved with the desire that it would be used to serve in bringing awareness, encourage, and be useful in foster parent training, and raising up foster parents,’ writes Nathanael Matanick on the film's Vimeo page.

Abby White is the talented young actress who portrays the emotionally raw story of Zoe Locke, as she is forced from her abusive home, separated from her baby brother, and shuffled from one foster home to the next, hoping to find someone to love and protect her – something her own mother and father failed to do.

“I am unseen, unheard, unwanted. That is what I am. If even, I am anything,” says Abby’s character in the film.

Your heart will break for this child – although Zoe is fictional, sadly her story is not. There are thousands of children in Australia who share her heartbreaking tale of abuse, loss, and loneliness. They hold on to the belief that they are unlovable and invisible. Everyone has failed them and they are scared to hope that you may be the one person who won't.

“I’ve heard plenty of promises and they all sound the same. But push hard enough and sooner or later they all prove to be empty.”


Removing these children from this cycle of abuse is only the first step. Breaking down their walls and helping them learn to trust again, to feel safe – perhaps for the first time – is the challenging task that all foster carers must face.

Nearly 40,000 Australian children are living in out-of-home care, according to the most recent 2012 statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which is almost double the number of children recorded in 2003. This has led to an increased need for more foster carers able to provide a safe and stable home and states are struggling to recruit enough carers to meet the need.

ReMoved was originally created for the 186 Film Festival and went on to win the Best Film and Audience Choice, as well as winning the Best Film at the Enfoque Film Festival and being an official selection at the Santa Barbara Independent Film Festival.

If fostering a child is something you have considered but never looked into you can find more information on the Fostering NSW website. To purchase ReMoved, visit the film's Vimeo page.