Wall Boy Documentary, The Salvation Army
Wall Boy tells the true tale of a vulnerable 16 year old boy forced to work as a male prostitute at Sydney’s notorious ‘Wall’ on Darlinghurst Road. A youth worker from the Salvation Army becomes the only person who can save him from certain death at the hands of a street predator and a spiralling drug habit. Wall Boy’s predicament is frighteningly common, and the film demonstrates the grim reality of youth homelessness and the value of intervention services in turning young lives around.
A Shark Island Productions film, Wall Boy is a companion piece to Ian Darling’s Polly and Me, a harrowing glimpse into the life of an abused and neglected 8 year old girl. The education and outreach strategy for both short films follows in the footsteps of the 2008 award-winning documentary, The Oasis, another Shark Island Productions film . Wall Boy has been accompanied by a study guide and an interactive website and, together with Polly and Me, was distributed to schools, youth centres, social work courses and social welfare organisations.