Somewhere Between
Rated: NR
Genre: Documentary
Street Date: February 5, 2013
Available On: DVD

The Film: To prepare to adopt a Chinese-born baby Filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton set out to make a film about the issues faced by Chinese children who were raised in American homes. Her film focuses on four teens and highlights their struggles to find a connection to their ancestral origins as well as their place in American culture.

The Extras: Deleted and extended scenes, “Beyond Somewhere Between” documentary short

Recommendation: As if being a teenager wasn’t hard enough “Somewhere Between” does a nice job of exploring what it is like to be a first-generation-Chinese adoptee being raised by non-Chinese parents. It’s an interesting predicament (and timely due to Russia’s recent ban of American’s adopting Russian orphans) that raises numerous questions about race and identity. Prior to seeing this film during its theatrical release I had never considered how difficult it would be to be genetically of one race, but raised in a completely different culture with little or no connection to the place you were born (or to the culture that society assigns to you based upon appearance). I don’t know that it is a film I’ll find myself returning to over and over, but it is absolutely a film you should watch at least once.

-Ryan Michael Painter
(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcast Group)