I saw @Azor Ahai recommend this documentary in another thread. It follows the lives of 20 children in South Africa beginning in 1992.
The documentary producers come back after every 7 years to see what has changed in their lives. We see them at 7 years, 14 years, 21 years and 28 years.
All those 7 years old children filmed in 1992 come from different backgrounds: slums, ushago, middle-class, rich, white, black, Indian, mixed race, orphans, single mother kids etc.
This documentary shows you how your childhood, education and environment can shape your life into adulthood.
It also shows you that nobody has it all figured in life. But there are those with a higher chance of success compared to others.
By the time the producer comes back to interview them in adulthood, a quarter of those participants died of AIDS in their late teens and early 20s. The AIDS pandemic in South Africa must be very serious.
The kids who come from poor backgrounds with less education rush into having many children with different partners while still in poverty. And their children live the lives they were trying to escape.
The girl who was raised by a single mother also became a single mother.
That woman who looks attractive at 21 looks like a mumama with a roto tank at 28 years.
Most of the participants who are more exposed and educated don’t have children in their 20s, but focusing on their career progression.
Some the participants (for obvious reasons) decided to opt out of the documentary after they became adults.
It’s one of the most thought-provoking documentaries I have ever watched. A real eye-opener.
I hope they release the next series when the participants are 35 years old.
The U.K series has documented the same people from 7 years to 63 years.