FCC NE Video Lending Library

FCC NE Video Lending Library

FCC/NE has created a video lending library. Members who want to show these videos at FCC gatherings or with friends can borrow a video, free of charge, by contacting video@fccne.org

Guidelines for borrowing videos. PDF format.

Request form for borrowing videos. PDF format.


Note: You must be a member of FCC New England to borrow videos.


Current Video List



Transracial, Intercultural and Adoption Identity Issues


"International Adoption: Changing Culture One Child at a Time"
by Judy Oskam, Ed.D
    The 26 minute television program, which aired on KTXT-TV (PBS) in late 2003 and early 2004, highlights the issues surrounding international adoption. Through on-camera interviews and video shot on location in West Texas and in China, the program explores culture, language, race and identity. The video features studio and field interviews with Texas Tech University child development professionals, local adoptive parents and their children. The program has been shown in university child development classes and is appropriate for adult educational settings.



“First Person Plural”
by Deann Borshay Liem, one hour, suitable for adults and teens.


Deann Borshay Liem, adopted at age 8 from Korea, has made an award winning film about her journey to understand the circumstances and meaning of her adoption. The film includes a meeting between her Korean birth mother and her American adoptive parents and conversations with her Korean and her American siblings. This is a riveting film that provokes tears, laughter and deep thought about many aspects of international adoption.

Discussion questions and purchasing information



“Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America”
by Phil Bertelsen, 57 minutes, 2001, suitable for adults and teens.

Phill Bertelsen, an African American adopted at age 4 by Caucasian parents, examines transracial adoption in discussions with his parents, his foster mother, and nephews who are African American children adopted by Bertelsen’s Caucasian sister. We see the community he chooses to live in now and hear his thoughts about how he has viewed his adoption as he grew up. The director’s love for his family provide gentle illumination for even the toughest problems explored by this film .

Discussion questions and purchasing information


“Perspectives on Adoption: International Adoptees Tell Their Stories”
by Alisa Blum from Heart to Heart Productions, 2002, suitable for older teens with parent preview advised.

This film features three women: Leslie, 29 years old and adopted at age five months from Korea, Sara, 30 years old and adopted at age three from Korea and Alexis, 23 years old and adopted at age 4 months from India and two of their mothers discuss growing up as a racial minority, adolescent issues and how returning to the birth countries helped identity formation. These young women also discuss how their lives might have turned out without adoption and their feelings about children still in the orphanage.

Discussion questions and purchasing information


“Made In China”
by Karin Lee, 47 minutes, 2000, suitable for older children.

Canadian older children, teens and their families speak about different aspects of adoption. One family returns to China to visit their children’s birth country.

Discussion questions and purchasing information





Adoption in the Classroom


“That’s A Family”
by Debra Chasnoff, from Women’s Educational Media, 30 minutes, undated, suitable for children in elementary school.

Children talk about their kind of family. This video places adoptive families in the context of a broad variety of families including mixed families, grandparent/guardian families, separated or divorced families, and single parent families. The mixed family segment features a German-American mother and Chinese American father. The film shows celebrations from both traditions. The adoptive family segment is only several minutes long. So much is covered in this 30 minute video that the separate segment just touch on each type of family. The focus is on promoting the acceptability of different types of family. A teacher guide is also available.

Discussion questions and purchasing information



“Family Diversity in the Classroom: The Adopted Child”
by Nancy Montoya from Arizona’s Children Association Adoptions undated, 20 minutes, suitable for adults only.
    Excellent, short, clear video produced for elementary school teachers. Children and parents tell teachers about 1) difficult class assignments, 2) forming a partnership with adoptive parents and 3) words and questions that hurt. Comes with handbook of additional resources and a floppy disc for printing handouts.

Discussion questions and purchasing information



Orphanage and Adoption Experience


The Willow Trees
By Changfu Chang, DVD. 28 minutes. 2005. Suitable for family viewing.

In the December 2005 issue of China Connection, FCC-NE member Bonnie Ward shared the remarkable story of her two adoptions, separated by several years, of babies who she later learned are biologic sisters. Called “The Willow Trees,” the title recognizes the significance of Willow Tree Lake in the Ward family’s story. The willow trees play a visual role in this story, as told in this film created by a team of filmmakers, headed by Dr. Changfu Chang, a professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.


“Embracing World Cultures”
By Changfu Chang, DVD. 28 minutes. 2005. Suitable for family viewing.

Bearing the subtitle, “The Legacy of Pearl S. Buck and International Adoption,” this film focuses on the adoption-related work of Pearl S. Buck and describes how she “remained a tireless fighter and advocate for social justice and multicultural understanding.” Those who watch the film are reminded, in the words of its creators, of the important role Buck played in challenging “the prevailing philosophy that guided practices of interracial and international adoption.” Dr. Changfu Chang led the filmmaking team.



“I Love You Like Crazy Cakes…and More Stories About Families”
Scholastic Video Collection, DVD. 62 minutes. 2006. Suitable for family viewing.

Actress Mia Farrow narrates the story FCC-NE member Rose Lewis told in her book, “I Love You Like Crazy Cakes.” After Lewis saw the DVD she commented that Farrow’s voice “brings to life the beautiful connection between Jane Dyer’s exquisite illustrations and the love-filled manuscript I wrote for my daughter.” This lead story on the DVD is followed by several tales with related themes of love and family.



“The Red String”
By Elizabeth Pearson.
Video. 25 minutes. 2004. Suitable for ages eight and older.

A baby girl is relinquished by her birth parents in China; she is adopted by an unmarried woman in the United States. What then? This documentary film takes an intimate look at how four mother-daughter pairs create and weave together culture, heritage and tradition in their families.



“New Year in Ping Wei”
By Jessica Fone, Pearl River Productions, DVD. 30 minutes. 2005. Suitable for family viewing.

Created by FCC-NE member Jessica Fone, this film captures the Chinese New Year celebration in a rural Chinese Village. Also known as the Spring Festival, New Year is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, a time when families reunite and mythical dragons dance through the night. Narrated in both English and Mandarin (with subtitles) New Year in Ping Wei follows Liu Yen Twin and her family as they celebrate. From preparation of the family reunion dinner and the symbolic burning of paper money to firecrackers and fireworks, all the traditions of New Year are captured in this colorful sequel to “One Day in Ping Wei.”



China's Lost Girls
by Lisa Ling & National Geographic, 1 hour, available in DVD only

Originally broadcast on MSNBC as a special report on China's Adoption Program and its impact on China. The program is comprised of 3 segments: The first deals with the One Child Policy. The second covers a visit to the site where an adopted child was discovered and the announcement to the local inhabitants that the child is now living in America. The third segment is a visit to the orphanage from which this child was adopted and a meeting with the foster parents.





Chinese Daughters
27 minutes
Meet the Singleton sisters, nine year old Emma, ten year old Samiee, and their friend, nine year old Lou Doyon, all adopted from orphanages in China. While the girls celebrate their cultural heritage and begin to explore their own identities, they must also confront the harsh truth that they were abandoned. Winner of the ''Best Documentary Short'' Award in the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, 2003, the Globe calls it ''Soulful and haunting'' and the Courier says it ''... does a great job of showing the children's perspective...''



Love without Boundaries
60 minutes
    The number of Chinese-born children adopted by American families has grown considerably in the last decade. Each adoption is a unique story of parents and children as their fates intertwine. Each adoption is also a blessing that adorns the family, the community, and the two distant cultures. Love without Boundaries paints a colorful portrait of the unique stories of six families that have adopted from China. It also tells of the bond that is gradually being stitched between China and the United States.



Unlocking the Heart of Adoption
(DVD only) 60 minutes, appropriate for adults
    Unlocking the Heart of Adoption chronicles the filmmaker’s journey as a birthmother interwoven with diverse personal stories of adoptees, birthparents and adoptive parents in both same race and transracial adoptions. These stories span 70 years, from ALICE, a birthmother whose child was adopted out without her consent in 1922; to RON, an adoptee who uncovered the truth after his parents died when he was 36; to PHYLLIS, a birthmother and ALISON, an adoptive mother in an open adoption with twin boys born in 1991. The film includes interviews with three mixed-race transracially adopted people: DEBBIE, a Japanese American woman; PAUL, a Filipino American man and MARTIN, an African American man with HAL, his Caucasian adoptive father.

    Their stories provide a window into the lifelong process of adoption following the path of relinquishment, adoption, growing up adopted, raising an adopted child, years of silence and shame, and searching for answers to unasked questions. In the process, they explain what the universal issues of "identity" "loss" and "needing to know the truth" mean to them. Unlocking the Heart of Adoption gives the viewer a powerful way to understand what ‘adoption as a lifelong process’ means today.



My Unforgotten Daughter
48 minutes

    Created by a team led by Dr. Changfu Chang of Millersville University, Pennsylvania, tells a touching story of a woman who is resolved to reunite with her daughter. It is a tale of love, choice, courage, and human dignity.



“Please Don’t Forget Me”
by Jon Chase, Shanti Fry, Rita Guastella and Amy Klatzkin from FCC-New England, 20 minutes, 1999. Suitable for adults and children, though previewing by parents recommended.
    A group of FCC parents take you inside six orphanages in Hubei Province: Wuhan, Huangshi, Huanggang, Yichang, Jingzhou and Jingmen, and a visit to the flood plain of 1998. The video provides a rare glimpse of orphanage life for babies and older children at a time when few, if any, American professional photographers were allowed into the orphanages. The video shows the care provided by orphanage staff and out how American families are improving the lives of children still in the orphanages.

Discussion questions and purchasing information


Untitled, Children of China Pediatric Foundation video
9 minutes, suitable for teens.
    FCC parents have organized annual trips of U.S. medical teams that provide plastic surgery for children in orphanages. The U.S. team works closely with a Chinese team, assisting each other during surgery and learning from each other. This video shows a mission to the Harbin in the north of China.

Discussion questions and purchasing information


“Good Fortune” by Corky Merwin, one hour, suitable for adults.
    An adoptive mother has produced a moving film about the experiences of six families as those families go through the adoption process here and in China, including some extraordinary footage shot in China. The filmmaker shows a range of adoptive families and children.

Discussion questions and purchasing information



China


One Day in Ping Wei (DVD only)
30 minutes, appropriate for children

What is life like... in China? Narrated in both English and Chinese (with subtitles) , "One Day in Ping Wei" follows a young Chinese girl as she goes through an average day. From home to school, interaction with parents and friends, chores and homework, all is captured in colorful detail to give an understanding of what life is like for a little girl in China.

"One Day in Ping Wei "is a wonderful look at a day in the life of a little girl in a rural Chinese village. It's a gift to the many Chinese children who have been adopted and now live in the United States,"-- Rosemary Bowler, Ph.D., Co-Author "Learning to Learn".

"...an extraordinary look at the modern Chinese village form a child's perspective," --Pam Wheaton Shorr, Emmy Award winning Children's Television Producer.



Half The Sky: The Women Of The Jiang Family
50 minutes

     Changes in the lives of four generations of Chinese women.  No women in any country have seen their lives change so radically as have Chinese women. "Women are 'half the sky,'" declared Mao Zedong, "and they are absolutely the equal of men."  Equal they may have been, but by regimentation, to the point of the virtual abolition of womanhood and femininity. Today economic reforms have given young women a degree of independence unknown to any previous generation. For the first time they are conscious and outspoken about their role and position in society, and they make their demands known.  This film explores these changes within the lives of four generations of women in the Jiang family over the last 50 years in China, from the grandmother who was bought by the Jiang family at age 14 to be grandfather's second wife, to her 24-year-old great-granddaughter who works as a sales assistant at the Pierre Cardin boutique in Beijing. Built around a series of interviews, images of daily life, special family occasions and archival film, HALF THE SKY focuses on the women's individual experiences of marriage, children, work, love, and self-esteem.