JURY PRIZE BEST DOCUMENTARY - Milwaukee International Film Festival | PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - Hot Docs
Asian • Asian American • Adoption • Family Studies • Women's Studies • Ethnic StudiesDate of Completion: 2012 | Run Time: 88 minutes (45 minute version included in DVD) | Language: English & Mandarin with English subtitles | Captions: Yes | Recommended for ages 14 and above due to mature emotional content | Director: Linda Goldstein Knowlton
While many adoption-focused documentaries give voice to adoptive parents, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN explores the emotional and cultural impact of adoption from the point of view of four teenage girls, all adopted from China. This award-winning film shares their personal journeys as these adoptees convey the experiences of a generation of young people attempting to reconcile their multiple identities. A recent adoptive parent of her own Chinese baby, filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton opens the film expressing her concerns for her daughter. How will she build a strong sense of identity as she grows older? Will she feel like an “outsider” living in a family with two Caucasian parents? How will she supplement the missing pieces of her early life? Goldstein Knowlton seeks these answers by chronicling the experiences over two years of Haley, Jenna, Ann, and Fang, all struggling to find their place in the world. Shedding stereotypes and a one-size-fits-all identity, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN poignantly conveys the vulnerability, confusion, and courage of these girls as they wonder, “Who am I?” As SOMEWHERE BETWEEN plunges the viewer into their ordinary and sometimes extraordinary experiences, we too, are encouraged to pause and consider who we are —both as individuals and as a nation of immigrants and people from diverse backgrounds.
Jaclyn Skalnik, MSW Adoption Professional, Transracial Adoptee
"While this film connects those in the adoption community, it also demonstrates everyone’s needs to feel connected and rooted. "
University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration | Gina Miranda Samuels, Associate Professor
"This is a film I would show to a wide range of learners—adoptive parents, graduate students in social work/education/psychology/law, and current professionals in the adoption field. The documentary provides a rare and balanced look inside a diverse array of experiences among young adults adopted from China transitioning to adulthood while simultaneously navigating the salience of their Chinese heritage alongside their experiences as transracially and transnationally adopted persons. It is deeply moving and educational; a film that touches the heart and mind."
Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan
"It's not just that the participants turn out to be poised, articulate and candid. Their position between cultures — some of them are the only Chinese person in the cities they live in — has made them more than usually thoughtful and self-aware. ... You'd have to be a stone not to be moved."
NY Daily News | Joe Neumaier
"As this strong, moving documentary shows, for those who came to the U.S., reconnecting to their culture and blood relatives can result in a generation of young people who feel ‘somewhere between’ Chinese and American… All have their own stories, but the common narrative in these ‘trans-racial’ kids’ lives is the strength it takes to be who you are and to flourish when identity becomes one more challenge."
"Interesting, heartfelt look at the lives and cultural awakening of Chinese girls adopted into the U.S."
Official Selection | Vancouver International Film Festival
Jury Prize Best Documentary | Milwaukee Film Festival
Official Selection | Los Angeles Film Festival
WINNER People's Choice Award | Hot Docs
Linda Goldstein Knowlton co-directed and co-produced the feature-length documentary, The World According to Sesame Street. The film examines Sesame Street's international co-productions, made primarily in some of the world's political hotspots, including Kosovo, Bangladesh, and South Africa. The film made its World Premiere in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection in the U.S. Documentary category. Previously, Goldstein Knowlton produced the New Zealand film Whale Rider (2002), which was the winner of the Audience Awards at Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam, Seattle, San Francisco, and Maui film festivals. Born and raised in Chicago, Goldstein Knowlton studied neuroscience at Brown University. She worked raising funds for film preservation at The American Film Institute, in Washington, D.C., and, later, in Los Angeles. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. Linda's documentary SOMEWHERE BETWEEN explores the emotional and cultural impact of adoption from the point of view of four teenage girls, all adopted from China. This award winning film shares their personal journeys as these adoptees convey the experiences of a generation of young people attempting to reconcile their multiple identities. As SOMEWHERE BETWEEN plunges the viewer into their ordinary and sometimes extraordinary experiences, we too, are encouraged to pause and consider who we are —both as individuals and as a nation of immigrants and people from diverse backgrounds.