INDEX Synopsis

STUDY GUIDE The primary purpose of this study guide is to provide a context for the film roots and expand on information introduced. This guide is mainly for secondary students and adults who want to know more about adoption disclosure, and it may also be used as a starting point for research. Although the topic of adoption disclosure is generally not a subject in elementary or secondary schools, the guide includes a list of related subjects and discussion topics appropriate for various audiences. INDEX Synopsis...............................................................2 Director’s Biography................................................3 Usage...................................................................4 The Roots of roots.................................................5 Exercises.............................................................. 6 Glossary................................................................7 Research interview quotes.....................................9 Canadian laws and government Internet sites........10 Additional Resources............................................11 © 2007 National Film Board of Canada. SYNOPSIS “I just keep thinking, does my other mom love me? Does she think about me? What was it like for her to give me away? Why can’t I find out? I need to know. It’s my story too.” A bunch of grapes drops into a shopping cart. Most of them are green, but one red grape lies nestled among them. “This is Carlos, our son from Chile,” the mother grape explains, introducing her adopted son. And so begins a one-of-a-kind produce-eye journey through a supermarket — and through the highly sensitive issue of adoption disclosure. It’s Mother’s Day, and as the fruits and vegetables drop into the shopping cart, they quickly get caught up in a conversation about origins and adoption. There’s a weepy apple whose tears have nothing to do with becoming part of pie à la mode and everything to do with the mother she fears she’ll never find. A moralistic mushroom thinks records should stay sealed, so birth mothers never have to confront their “shameful” past. And a potato whose brother was raised by eggplants tries to keep the peace, while a most insensitive squash provides a steady diet of ill-advised comments and frightening anecdotes cribbed from movie plots. With its bright and a-peeling look, roots is a brilliant film that will help seed discussion among teens and adults. Through the medley of opinions offered up by the checkout-bound produce, the film explores the rights of natural and adoptive parents and children as they seek to learn more about themselves and each other. In many jurisdictions, records are permanently sealed, denying birth information to parents and children alike. While the film presents multiple points of view, it clearly comes down on the side of greater openness. Or, as one outspoken orange puts it: “I tell you, this whole sealed records issue is pissing me off.” Roots is directed by Alison Reiko Loader (herself an adoptee), written by Paul Bellini of the legendary comedy troupe Kids in the Hall, and voiced by a who’s who cast, including Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall, The Larry Sanders Show), Mark McKinney (Kids in the Hall, Slings and Arrows), Cara Pifko (This is Wonderland) and Fiona Reid (Jacob Two-Two, My Big Fat Greek Wedding), along with comic and talk-show host Maggie Cassella (Because I Said So). 2 DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY While directing Showa Shinzan, her first animated film for the NFB, Alison Reiko Loader began searching for her birth family. She had no idea that there was a huge amount of controversy surrounding the issue of adoption disclosure — and when she discovered passionate activists leading the charge for open adoption records, she knew she had found a topic ripe for animation. While working on roots, Alison — who enjoys working with plants in her garden as well as with virtual produce on the screen — also kept busy with a number of other projects. She interned on Chris Landreth’s Oscar-winning animated short Ryan and co-directed the independent abstract film experiment 02_06 with her mentor, Donald McWilliams. Her next project is another innovative leap, involving an attempt to virtually fold stereoscopic paper. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Alison also teaches courses in Computation Arts at Concordia University. CAST Maggie Cassella | Orange Mark McKinney | Red Pepper, Turnip, Squash Cara Pifko | Apple, Carlos, Green Pepper Fiona Reid | Mother Grape and Mushroom Scott Thompson | Father Grape and Potato 3 USAGE Recommended for viewers age 14 and up Secondary and Post-Secondary Subjects Social studies, identity, family & kinship, law, ethics Women’s studies, sociology, anthropology Social work, psychology Adoption Organizations and Professionals (professional training, workshops) Adoption agencies Adoptive family organizations Social workers working in adoption placement and/or disclosure Adoption search, reunion and support groups Disclosure advocates and opponents Activists and lobbyists Legislators (provincial for adoption disclosure/federal for reproductive technologies) 4 THE ROOTS OF ROOTS With an English name that sits in contradiction to my Japanese face, I have spent much of my life explaining to people that I am adopted. While it’s a fact that never particularly troubled me, it took a long time for me to decide to search for my natural parents. I worried that my finding them would open a huge can of worms and so I suppressed my curiosity and tried not to think about it. Still, I wondered about my medical history. Was there cancer in my family? Heart disease? Diabetes? What would I pass on to my children? Finally, after turning 30, at my family’s urging and a realization that there was nothing wrong with wanting to know where I came from, I decided to search for my roots. By that time, I had seen so many televised reunion shows that I had not actually thought about how difficult searches could be. Yet in the 1990s in Canada, adoption records had been closed for decades and the waiting list for a government search in Ontario (where my adoption was finalized) was around five years. The situation was not much better elsewhere. That meant a lot of annoyed searchers. As I conducted my own personal research, I soon discovered a whole subculture of adoptees and natural mothers from all sorts of backgrounds. They had not only created support networks but had become impassioned activists fighting for the right to their own records. More and more adoption disclosure bills were being introduced to legislatures across North America. When I went to my first Parent Finders Meeting and listened to a man fume over an unsuccessful attempt to get a hospital to release his own birth records, I knew I wanted to make a film. Because it was so topical and affected so many people at a deeply personal level, I wanted to introduce adoption disclosure to a wider audience and explain some of the controversy around it. It is a weighty and emotional issue but I also wanted to make a funny film. That’s where writer Paul Bellini came in. While I was busy making fruit and vegetable characters, Paul took my mountain of research compiled from the books, articles and recorded interviews and rolled it into one rollicking script. He wrote characters for his own acquaintances, including comics Scott Thompson and Maggie Cassella, and then he helped cast and voice-direct the partially improvised recording sessions. After an early sound edit with sound editor (and shopper!) Marco Fania, animator Stephanie Duong and I went to work. Jason Lee worked on prop design, Zacharie Faye filmed a real grocery store, Oana Suteu did the edit, and Luigi Allemano worked his magic with music and sound design. For a small production, there was a great deal of creative collaboration and simply too many people to thank. Nevertheless, I am indebted to all the terrific professionals who helped with the production and all the wonderful adoptees and natural mothers who shared their stories with us. I especially hope this film merits all the help given me by the adoption community. Their generosity and dedication have been most impressive. Since I started my search, adoption records have opened in four provinces in Canada due in part to the lobbying efforts of disclosure activists. Sometime this year I should be able to apply for my original birth certificate. But that still leaves many searchers in the dark. Is it not a basic human need to know who you are and where you came from? And what about the future and reproductive technologies? While open adoptions are increasingly common, many children are now being born as a result of anonymous eggs, sperm and embryo donations. Is it ethical to promote yet another system that effectively cuts individuals off from their roots? I don’t think so. But then again, who am I? 5 SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISES The following questions and discussion topics are suitable for viewers of different ages and backgrounds. They may be used at the discretion of educators and group facilitators for discussions or individual written exercises. General questions about the film (for all ages) 1. Who were your favourite and least favourite characters in roots? Why? 2. Why do you think the filmmaker chose to portray characters as fruits and vegetables rather than as humans? 3. How would you design a fruit or vegetable character? Describe its personality. The disclosure debate 1. The characters of roots are discussing the topic of adoption disclosure. Summarize their arguments for and against opening adoption records. 2. Do you think adoption records should be available to searching adult adoptees? Natural mothers? Other family members? Why or why not? 3. Canadian provinces that have open records have vetoes restricting access. Disclosure vetoes allow individual adoption records to be permanently sealed. Contact vetoes make it illegal for searchers to contact their birth relatives. What do you think about such vetoes? Who should have the right to impose them and under what conditions? 4.

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