A Few of Our Favorite Videos

Adopted
directed by Barb Lee, co-produced with Nancy Kim Parsons
We Can Do Better
directed by Barb Lee, written by Catherine Wigginton Greene, co-produced with Catherine Wigginton Greene and Nancy Kim Parsons
Filmmakers Barb Lee and Nancy Kim Parsons (Korean adoptees themselves) present us with the gripping story of two adoptive families at opposite ends of the adoption experience: Jacqi and John in the process of meeting their adopted baby and Jen, a Korean adoptee, facing her parents terminal illness. Jen Fero, the adopted adult who courageously allows viewers into her family as she explores her own experience of adoption with her parents and brother, is the hero of the film, very articulate, she helps us understand the complexity of adoption. Adopted is distributed as a two-DVD set with We Can Do Better, a companion film designed for training purposes that intersperses the firsthand experiences of parents and adopted adults with child welfare professionals talking about some of the challenges inherent to transracial and transnational adoption. Each of the five sections is between 20 and 35 minutes long, and conveniently divided into topics for trainers and parents: Intentions, Parenting the Adopted Child, The Multiracial Family, Identity for the Transracial Adoptee and Tough Questions. Beth Hall, Pact's Director, and Lisa Marie Rollins, Pact's former Adoption Education Specialist, appear as speakers in We Can Do Better. We admit our bias, but we really believe this two-part video is a valuable and important contribution to the field. It's not always easy viewing, but it's an honest and poignant look at the many layers of adoption, and the ways that we can do better.

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Daddy & Papa
Directed by Johnny Symons
$19.95
This film explores the growing phenomenon of gay fatherhood in the ever-changing landscape of the American family. This intimate and compelling film delves into challenges such as surrogacy, foster care, interracial adoption, gay marriage and divorce, and the battle for full legal status as parents. The message of Symons' frank and frequently poignant documentary is that hard work, love, and commitment - not gender or sexual orientation - are what constitute a good home for a child.

Pact says: Daddy & Papa is a thoughtful and frequently entertaining reminder of this simple truth that avoids a saccharine approach to either race or adoption.
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Foster Parents Speak
$100.00
This 23-minute film delivers its cutting-edge message in a powerful manner. Short enough to be used as a training film, meaty enough to provoke intense discussion and new ways of thinking about foster care, this film should be shown at every foster-parent orientation and can help every child welfare professional focus on how they craft their practice. The inspiring foster parents it profiles place children's needs first as they create safe environments for children who are faced with family instability while their permanency plan is still in process.

Pact says: One small caveat: while we applaud the inclusion of many foster parents of color, unfortunately the most prominent speakers in the film are mainly white. However, the speakers are very articulate and speak from the heart. Our desire to see more balanced representation does not detract from the great value of the video overall.

Jagadamba, Mother of the Universe
By Amber Field
A short film (10 min, 19 sec) about identity and finding one's home in the world. Amber was born in Korea and adopted by a white single parent, growing up in Korea, Nepal, Liberia and eventually the US. This is a tender portrayal of her healing journey through music that acknowledges the ways in which race and adoption matter. Her film is award winning including being an Official Selection of the San Francisco Women's Film Festival and the Los Angeles Mixed Root Film Festival!

Pact says: Amber, self identified as a queer transracial adoptee, is a musician and artist who works with Pact youth at both our teen club and camp.

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Las Hijas
Directed by Maria Quiroga
$24.00
A documentary about three young women who were adopted from Colombia as infants. Raised in the New York City/New Jersey area by white parents, they seek to establish their sense of identity first as children and then as adults. It is nice to hear from Latina's who might be perceived by white people as being able to "pass" because of their own clarity about their needs to understand their own adoption history and heritage before they can be fully comfortable in their own skin.

Pact says: This is a great film that will give viewers an insider view to the candid experiences of three different women who begin their search for self in isolation but eventually find one another and a whole community of belonging.
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Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible
by Shakti Butler
This film features the experiences of white men and women who have worked to gain insight into what it means to challenge notions of racism and white supremacy. Participants talk about their learned and internalized sense of privilege as well as the comments of some very articulate adults of color. Featuring: Tim Wise, Joe Fahey, Peggy V. MacIntosh, Marguerite Parks, Gary Howard and many more.

Pact says: This film catalyzes powerful dialogue to support learning, change and the healing of all people who want to undo race-based oppression.

Off & Running: An American Coming of Age Story
Directed by Nicole Oper
$24.95
With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers, Brooklyn teenager Avery, a track star with a bright future, is curious about her African American birth mother and trying to figure out her identity as an adoptee and an African American woman. Sometimes hard to watch, the film follows Avery as she explores hew multiple identities and her relationship with her adoptive and birth mothers.

Pact says: This a provocative film that explores a mulitplicity of issues all in the context of transracial adoption in a way that is both deep and forgiving. Highly recommended.

Struggle for Identity: Issues in Transracial Adoption & A Conversation 10 years Late
$100.00
This thought-provoking 20-minute video presenting a group of adoptees who discuss their experiences growing up in transracial adoptive families is widely considered the definitive video on the subject. They delve into complex issues such as confronting stereotypes, fitting in with their culture of origin and learning to define themselves in terms of race and culture. Included in the video are interviews with several adoptive parents who discuss the obstacles they faced in raising children of a different race. The compelling voices of experience are touching and often brutally honest in their observations. In the follow up, John and Michelle return to reflect on their experiences participating a decade ago in the first film, and why they have made transracial and multicultural adoption their life’s work. The two explore issues of racism, the visible and public nature of transracial adoption, loyalty and attachment, transracialization and creating multicultural families through the lens of their personal experience and professional training.

Pact says: We love this video and the clear voiced adoptees who speak to all of us in a way that enlightens our ability to service the children growing up behind them.
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Visible Differences
Directed by Ann Humphrey
$35.00
A 28-minute training friendly video looking at transracial adoption with clarity and compassion. Useful as a training tool for pre- and post-adoptive families through either domestic or international adoption. A thoughtful, provocative, passionate and tender exploration of the issues of transracial parenting through adoption. Single parents, two parent households, families with children adopted from different countries and racial groups, families with both birth and adopted children and adult transracial adoptees share their personal stories. Holly van Gulden (author of Real Parents, Real Children) and Gail Steinberg (co-author if Inside Transracial Adoption and co-founder of Pact) and her daughter Liza are featured.

Comments from the field: "Excellent view of transethnic and transracial adoption and the issues involved. It looks at adoptions with clarity, compassion and straight forward advice. It suggests different ways to cope with the variety of issues that parents face." Flicka van Praagh, Director of International Adoptions, Spence-Chapin
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