Who am I today? Better than yesterday, not as good as tomorrow.

rampant1970

Lacey Schwartz is a filmmaker inspired by confusion about her own origins. Her film draws a gently curved line from her birth in 1970s New York to her wedding. Along the way she discovers her true racial, ethnic, and genetic identity. She is a strong, creative, Black Jewish woman in America, who embraces her family, culture, and community.

I watched this film on PBS's Independent Lens. Many thanks to their team for bringing another great story to my TV.

I admire Ms. Schwartz's honesty and the care she takes in showing the mile markers along her journey. Some events are obviously painful or discouraging, but Lacey's integrity and kindness keep her family bound by love and understanding. She walks a fine line between being a daughter and a filmmaker with grace.

As a child of divorce, I particularly admire Ms. Schwartz's persistence to achieve an open understanding with her now divorced parents and their extended family, including her husband's own diverse family. Her wedding certainly was a joyous event and a very effective and affecting climax to the film.

Finally, after watching this film, I got a chance to think, "This is what America can be." And that makes me happy, because we all can draw strength from this film and its maker. Happy Martin Luther King Day 2016, America.

score 9/10

rampant1970 18 January 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3398140/