Awareness Film Festival - Six Word Adoption Memoirs
If you had only six words to write about your adoption story, what would they be?
Interview with Producer Andrew Tash
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you. We're excited to be in the Awareness Fest and looking forward to seeing others' projects. My co-producer and I are both adoptees. Having spent time in the community hearing other stories from adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents, we realized there were far many more narratives than were usually presented in mass media. So we wanted to catch some of those first-hand and then develop a platform to share them with others.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The primary reason to watch is to experience something beautiful of a fellow human that you might not otherwise. Adoption touches all walks of life and the stories range from traumatic to delightful, sometimes in the same tale.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The narratives are necessarily personal as they're from the non-fiction experiences of the persons sharing them. We tried to capture that universal humanity and vulnerability through the camera work and editing frame.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
While we initially wanted to collect these experiences, thinking about how to do that in an editable and deliverable format proved to be a challenge. We didn't want just talking heads, but our limited production time for each person required a concise frame for them to work in. Six word memoirs have been around for awhile. In a contemporary sense Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser have edited works in the genre, but one of my first exposures to the genre came in a workshop around adoptive voices wherein I first heard a six-word story, "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn." The brevity of the genre permits quick entrance, but the poetry of the words invites viewers to stay and linger and learn more.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Initial screenings of the film have been overwhelmingly positive. Honestly we've been humbled to be able to share these stories that were entrusted to us. Many have asked for longer stories from each of the people shown.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback has affirmed that there is space in our social lives to hear and contemplate these memoirs. A couple of comments have been the stories seem too dour at times, but we didn't want to put a bow and make shiny happy people when their experiences reflected a breadth of emotional content.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Our objectives would fall into two categories: First, we'd like people to see the film and listen to those brave individuals. Second, we'd like to collect more narratives from those on the adoption journey.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
If we were picking up additional people I'd get someone like an April Dinwoodie at Donaldson Adoption Institute - Director or Emma Alpert at JustVision - Public Engagement Manager. Two incredibly accessible and intelligent woman with great, humane perspectives.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Obviously we hope that it continues to resonate with audiences both in and outside of the adoption journey. And to carry the momentum of conversations that these stories have generated on into similar projects.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
"Should adoptions come with a warning label?"
Would you like to add anything else?
An ancillary inspiration for this project came from Danny Boyle. His ability to turn stories, wrought with potential disaster into beautiful glimpses of deeply human mesmerizing movies remains, I feel, under appreciated by too many.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We have collected another 40 narratives from others in the adoption journey and are editing those for social media platforms and perhaps another short documentary film.
Interview: October 2016
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Six Word Adoption Memoirs
If you had only six words to write about your adoption story, what would they be?
Length: 17:10
Director: Derek Frank
Producer: Andrew Tash
Editor: Jordan Horsch
About the writer, director and producer:
Derek and Andrew, both fathers, adoptees, filmmakers, and media teachers are sometimes mistaken for brothers when they're in full-beard mode. Andrew listens to Flock of Dimes and Derek more obscure musicians.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
We'd be happy to talk with film festival directors, distributors, and journalists about this project. Or working with other producers on similarly social-conscious projects in the future.
Funders: Self-funded.
Made in association with: Canon - I'd love to have them drop some new gear in our laps for another project :)
Release date: May 2016