"Off and Running"

It seems like a fitting title for a film that is kicking off the new season of POV, the documentary series on PBS that began Tuesday night. Off and Running is a new film directed by Nicole Opper and produced by Sharese Bullock. It's the story of the Klein-Cloud family, with a particular focus on Avery, the adopted daughter of Tova and Travis, a lesbian couple that lives in Brooklyn. That in itself, might seem a bit hard to swallow for some, but that doesn't begin to tell the story. Tova and Travis are white and Jewish, Avery is black, and she also shares the home with her two other adopted siblings, Rafi, born to a crack addicted mother, with a mix of black and Puerto Rican roots, and young Isaiah, or Zay-Zay as he's called in the film, whose ethnicity is Korean. To say this family embodies the spirit of multiculturalism would be an understatement. We'd all like to believe this is part of the fabric of American culture to accept all of this diversity and embrace it as beautiful. As the film shows, the truth is more complicated.

It begins with Avery, nearing the end of her time in high school, writing a letter to her birth mother with the hopes of connecting with her in order to learn more about the family that she came from. She grew up going to Hebrew school, the lone black face among a crowd of white, learning about her adopted mothers' Jewish culture. Up to this point, she has embraced it, but now is beginning to search for something more about her own identity as a young African American woman. As the film progresses, we see her with her black friends, going about her daily life, writing to her birth mother, attempting at each turn to grasp just what it means to be a part of a culture that matches her outward appearance. At one point, she sits in a counselors office and is faced with the question of whether or not she feels black. "I don't even know what that means," she answers in earnest.

The title is a play on this struggle, but also draws from her main passion in life: running. From a very young age, as we learn in the film, Avery has had incredible success running track and cross country, and it seems to be the one thing that keeps her centered. As her coach and teammates encourage her, we are privy to the ups and downs of her training, which is more of a backdrop to the main struggles of her personal life. Running to her is an outlet, and a way out. It is her ticket to a college education and a future that is almost certainly better than the one she would have had if she were not given up for adoption.

It's a story that is fascinating on so many levels. There are so many important issues that it touches on from culture, race and religion to our changing ideas about family and the nature of our relationships. It tests our understanding and tolerance for these varying points of view as they are presented. It challenges us to have compassion for people in situations we may disagree with on moral or religious grounds. It forces us to face the human side of the story.

From a filmic standpoint, I always find it interesting to look at documentaries, mainly because it is my main method of working. I always examine the way a film is shot and edited. Does it follow the conventions of the medium or strive to blaze new trails? What elements are used to convey story? Is it told through the viewpoint of the filmmaker, the subjects of the film, or some omniscient narrator? Although I would certainly have made a number of different choices in the way it was shot and certain editing decisions, there was a lot to appreciate here. There were some really beautiful sequences that acted as a wonderful backdrop to the story, reinforcing visually what we are hearing from the people in the story. The film opens with a nice montage of Avery gearing up for a run intercut with shots of all the trophies that decorate her room. Later we see shots of her running in silhouette against a beautiful skyline. There are little details like the gorgeous macro shots of raindrops clinging to wooden clothespins. And then there are all the moments the filmmakers captured. Unfiltered discussions between Avery and her adopted parents about her birth mother, or similar talks with her friends and siblings. We see the sweet moments between Avery and her younger brother Zay-Zay as she kisses him goodnight. We see the raw emotion she feels when she thinks of her older brother Rafi, now away at college.

There is such beauty in this type of a portrait of family life. As an audience, I think there is a sense of privilege in having had the opportunity to view such intimate moments of a person's life. It makes us look at ourselves and ask certain questions. It makes us think about those around us that we might be tempted judge and rethink a view we may have based purely on politics or our own prejudices. This is the power of documentary and of film as an art form. It is a medium that truly has the power to transform lives. And it is for this reason that we must take care in how we choose to use it.