Educational Media Reviews Online

Filmmaker Anais Huerta’s feature-length documentary follows 34-year-old David Gḗrard Larbre’s roundtrip journey from France to Haiti in search of his Haitian culture, heritage, and birth certificate, an important document questionably lost during David’s adoption as a baby. David’s adoption to a white Jewish family in France, sans birth certificate and legal adoption papers, raises concerns about the adoption process involving poor orphan children from third world countries. It is a concern that lacks culpability in the film.

Subsequently, David receives the love and support of his adoptive family and studies hard to earn a Ph.D. of Public Law. He is an accomplished scholar and musician, but it is clear that there resides an emptiness within David's soul to connect with his roots. David yearns to embrace his Haitian culture, and to fulfill a promise made to his younger adoptive brother to return to Haiti one day. His adoptive family worries that if David is unable to find what he is searching for, he will then become even more distant. After passing his doctoral qualifying exams, David embarks on his journey to Haiti to reclaim his birthright, a feat that proves to be a daunting task.

This beautiful artistic film raises several issues to include: the adoption process, the status of claimed/unclaimed orphan children, white families raising children of color, a longing for self-identity and awareness, and a feeling of extreme alienation not just within one’s culture, but within the adopted culture as well. Unfortunately, the film misses several opportunities to further deal with the psychological effects of adoption, and mental health issues. Although David presents himself as a well-adjusted adult, this viewer comes away feeling empty with how this story evolves. The time David spends in Haiti is so miniscule and fraught with bureaucratic struggles that there is not much of a take-away storyline. In the absence of parents in Haiti, the Mayor becomes the de facto father head and is able to sign a birth certificate. With his birth certificate, David is able to renew his passport in France. Strangers in Haiti remind David that he will always be a son of Haiti, yet no one really comes to his defense or seriously befriends him. There is no real investigative research to find David’s birth relatives.

This viewer was rooting for a successful journey to Haiti, but perhaps David is content with his life in France and realizes that there is no future in Haiti. Similarly, David’s adoptive mother recounts stories of suffering the loss of family during the Holocaust. Her yearning for family is a primary reason to adopt unwanted children. Family, loss, and the search for one’s identity are prevalent themes throughout the film.

The cinematography is excellent. The film interweaves black and white photos of David's travel to his homeland. Of particular interest are the opening and closing scenes of David "wading in the water" which is not only a homage to an old negro spiritual but signifies cleanliness, freedom, and a rebirth of the soul.

Awards

Premio TV UNAM de la VIII Edición del Festival Internacional de Cine UNAM (FICUNAM), México, 2018