A Boy Called Josh - Official Selection at the 30th Annual Sacramento International Film Festival
A Film That Refuses to Look Away
When the world writes off a young person, the consequences ripple for generations.
But A Boy Called Josh, an official selection at the 30th Annual Sacramento International Film Festival, does the opposite. It steps closer. It listens. It tells the story of a young man whose life becomes a turning point in the conversation about juvenile justice.
This is not entertainment.
This is a revelation.
Through the lens of an award-winning film producer, Shaun Peter Cunningham from Shot by Picto, the film documents the real-life journey through the eyes of Joshua Varner, a justice-involved youth who discovers purpose, accountability, and redemption through ARC Uncuffed at California’s first Less Restrictive Program (LRP).
The result is a cinematic portrait of what becomes possible when the system finally chooses rehabilitation over removal, and humanity over fear.
A Different Kind of Juvenile Justice Story
Most films about justice-involved youth focus on the crime.
This one focuses on the human.
A Boy Called Josh places viewers directly inside the emotional, psychological, and developmental crossroads experienced by young people navigating the justice system. Instead of relying on statistics or distant narration, the film offers raw, personal access to Joshua’s lived experience; the doubts he wrestles with, the breakthroughs he earns, the tension between who he was and who he is becoming.
And in that process, the film makes something very clear:
Transformation doesn’t begin with punishment.
It begins when someone finally shows a young person how to grow.
Inside the Less Restrictive Program (LRP):
A Blueprint for Real Transformation
California’s first LRP is more than a facility:
It is a philosophy of justice that prioritizes responsibility, structure, and opportunity.
It redefines rehabilitation through:
- Mentorship grounded in real-life experience and human connection
- A structured environment that builds life skills, emotional regulation, and decision-making capacity
- Accountability that strengthens rather than destroys
- A step-down model designed to support transition, not just release
Through ARC Uncuffed’s LRP, Joshua begins learning not just how to follow expectations but how to understand himself, his triggers, his aspirations, his potential. The program becomes the scaffolding that allows him to rebuild.
Most importantly, it teaches him that his future is still within reach.
Filming a Young Man Becoming Who He Was Meant to Be
The camera never turns away from Joshua’s reality.
It captures:
- The weight of the choices behind him
- The vulnerability of trying to change
- The fear of repeating old cycles
- The determination to rise above them
- The unmistakable moments when growth becomes visible
The documentary does not sanitize the journey; it humanizes it.
It exposes the truth many policymakers and practitioners overlook:
youth do not fail because they lack potential. They fail because systems rarely give them the tools to succeed.
ARC Uncuffed exists to provide those tools.
Why This Film Matters Now
Across the country, juvenile justice systems are being questioned, revised, and rebuilt. Yet A Boy Called Josh stands as proof, living, breathing proof, that when meaningful intervention is paired with guidance, structure, and hope, young people do not just comply… they transform.
It confirms:
- Young people can heal.
- Cycles can be broken.
- Accountability can empower rather than punish.
- Structured mentorship produces outcomes incarceration never will.
It is a cinematic testament to the core truth ARC Uncuffed champions:
When we build real pathways to redemption, young people rise to meet them.
The Invitation: Walk Beside Joshua as He Reclaims His Future
At its heart, A Boy Called Josh invites audiences to see the world as Joshua sees it:
to experience justice, hope, fear, and growth through his eyes, not through the filtered perspective of the system around him.
It asks every viewer, advocate, and policymaker a single question:
If this is what happens when a young man receives structure, mentorship, and dignity;
why isn’t every system built this way?
A Boy Called Josh is more than a documentary.
It is a turning point, a breakthrough, and a roadmap for the future of juvenile justice.
Press Release & Film Festival Links
Click here to check out the Official Press Release
Click here to check out the 30th Annual Sacramento International Film Festival page
Click here to check out The NorCal All Stars Winter 2025 page where A Boy Called Josh will premiere
