KISS THE BABIES Winner of 2 Emmy Awards!
“Best Topical Documentary” and “Long Form Editing”
Kiss the Babies is my latest documentary release, examining one of America’s most urgent and disturbing realities: gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children under the age of eighteen. This raw, unflinching film takes an honest and uncomfortable look at how we arrived at this unacceptable moment.
Kiss the Babies is not a film about gun control. Instead, it offers a truly nonpartisan exploration of how gun violence has moved beyond political rhetoric and public debate, ultimately landing in the lives—and hands—of our children. Not just teenagers, but babies. Gun violence has become woven into the fabric of everyday childhood in America, forcing young people to confront its consequences each time they leave their homes.
While society often looks to lawmakers for solutions, the film argues that understanding the root causes must come before meaningful change can occur. Through the voices of gunshot survivors and families left behind, Kiss the Babies reveals that gun violence is not the disease itself, but a symptom of something far deeper—and far more human.
As the country continues to wrangle with gun violence, Detroit remains the epicenter as it has now for decades. At the heart of the struggle are thousands of families and victims, many of whom are children. But no one asks what happens after the trigger is pulled, the funeral is over, the cameras are off and everyone has moved on to the next tragedy. Kiss the Babies is the painstaking but long-overdue effort of showing what happened… and what hasn’t happened in response to the violence that continues to hold our communities, hostage. For those who choose to see it, there is also a glaring and stark answer to what needs to happen so that we stop playing Russian Roulette with the lives of those we claim to love. Kiss the Babies should be required for everyone who has shaken their head, cried a tear, or said, “someone needs to do something.” Watch it closely. Feel it deeply. Nothing will resonate and touch your soul more.
DETROIT NEWS COLUMNIST Karen Dumas
WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER!
Notes:
As a former Director of Photography, Editor, and Producer for National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and History Channel, I have witnessed countless stories that were shocking, unsettling, and difficult to process. Nothing, however, has compared to the heartbreaking realities uncovered during the making of Kiss the Babies.
Child gun violence is a uniquely American crisis, present in cities and communities across the United States. This documentary was filmed in Detroit—not because Detroit represents the worst-case scenario, but because the filmmakers and participants call it home. The truth is, we could have chosen virtually any city or suburb in America and arrived at the same conclusions. This is not someone else’s problem. Child gun violence is already happening in a community near you.
