{{For|the South Korean TV drama|The Birth of a Family}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Birth of a Family | image = Birth of a Family.jpg | alt = | director = Tasha Hubbard | writer = Tasha Hubbard, Betty Ann Adam | based_on = | starring = | studio = National Film Board of Canada | distributor = | released = {{Film date|2017|05|02|Canada}} }}
'''''Birth of a Family''''' is a 2017 First Nations Canadian documentary directed by Tasha Hubbard<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff Writer |url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/reclaiming-retelling-and-revisioning-indigenous-stories-1.4079554/filmmaker-tasha-hubbard-s-personal-connection-to-the-sixties-scoop-1.4080128 |title=Filmmaker Tasha Hubbard's personal connection to the Sixties Scoop |work=CBC Radio |date=2017-10-17 |accessdate=2018-03-17 }}</ref> and co-written by Hubbard and Betty Ann Adam. It follows three sisters and a brother, adopted as infants into separate families across North America, who meet together for the first time.<ref>{{Citation|last=Hubbard|first=Tasha|title=Birth of a Family|date=2017-05-02|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7109066/|accessdate=2018-03-12}}</ref>
== Summary == The reunion emerged from decades of searching by Betty Ann Adam, the eldest of the family.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/episodes/birth-of-a-family|title=Birth of a Family|access-date=2018-03-12|language=en}}</ref> Removed from their young Dene mother's care as part of Canada's infamous Sixties Scoop, Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie and Ben were four of the 20,000 Indigenous children taken from their families between 1955 and 1985, to be either adopted into white families or to live in foster care. The documentary follows the siblings as they reunite in Banff, Alberta. As the four siblings piece together their shared history, their connection deepens, bringing laughter with it, and their family begins to take shape.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tiff.net/films/birth-of-a-family/|title=Birth of a Family|website=TIFF|language=en|access-date=2018-03-12}}</ref>
== Filming process == In 2014, Betty Ann Adam, a reporter at ''The StarPhoenix'', approached Hubbard about documenting her planned reunion and her intentions to direct the project.
Hubbard pitched the idea to the National Film Board (NFB) and the response was immediately supportive. However, the NFB made it a condition that Hubbard be director. Adam agreed in order to be more emotionally and physically present for the upcoming reunion. In an article for ''The StarPhoenix'', she emphasised the importance of having a director who had a similar lived experience of forced removal and adoption into a non-Indigenous family during the Sixties Scoop.<ref name="Saskatoon StarPhoenix">{{Cite news|url=https://thestarphoenix.com/life/bridges/through-a-compassionate-lens-tasha-hubbard-highlights-systemic-injustices|title=Through a compassionate lens: Tasha Hubbard highlights systemic injustices|date=2017-09-08|work=Saskatoon StarPhoenix|access-date=2018-03-19|language=en-US}}</ref> Adam said, "It was perfect to have a director who had that same experience in her lived experience. We knew that would inform her approach toward the story, that she would understand certain things about what we were going through." This responsibility for holding space and minimal interference was central to the filming.
Despite the circumstances of the reunion taking place in a small cabin and it being a two-camera shoot, Adam says Hubbard was able to shoot the film without distracting the family from the connections they were there to make. "For us, things probably went as smoothly as they could. I think that's because she was taking care of things behind the scenes so they didn't interfere with our experience," Adam says.<ref name="Saskatoon StarPhoenix"/>
== Reception == Reception of the documentary has been positive. It has featured in many festivals including the 2017 Talking Stick Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fullcircle.ca/festival/events-2018/headliners/reel-reservations-cinematic-indigenous-sovereignty-series/|title=Reel Reservations: Cinematic Indigenous Sovereignty Series|website=fullcircle.ca|access-date=2018-03-12}}</ref> Edmonton International Film Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/events/birth-of-a-family/|title=BIRTH OF A FAMILY - Edmonton International Film Festival|website=www.edmontonfilmfest.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-12|archive-date=March 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313093600/http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/events/birth-of-a-family/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Toronto International Film Festival.<ref name=":0" />
Patrick Mullen of ''Point of View'' reviews the film as "relevatory" and "a family reunion doc like you've never seen."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/review-birth-of-a-family|title=Review: 'Birth of a Family'|website=Point of View|language=en|access-date=2018-03-12}}</ref> Gateway Online calls this film a "triumph," writing in their review, "''Birth of a Family'' reminds viewers of a painful past that many First Nations peoples had and continue to trudge through."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thegatewayonline.ca/2017/10/birth-of-a-family/|title=Film Review: Birth of a Family - The Gateway|date=2017-10-05|work=The Gateway|access-date=2018-03-12|language=en-US}}</ref> Canada's documentary films festival described the film as a "raw emotion, a heart-wrenching combination of pain and joy, shown by the siblings throughout the film is as moving as anything I have seen on film. Their willingness to lay bare their experiences and feelings is inspiring, and while their story is devastating to watch it acts as a reminder of the resilience of the First Nations people who, against all odds and despite every effort to destroy them, continue to persevere."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://intheseats.ca/hot-docs-2017-review-birth-family/|title=Hot Docs 2017: Our Review of 'Birth Of A Family' - In The Seats|date=2017-04-25|work=In The Seats|access-date=2018-03-12|language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Awards === {| class="wikitable" ! Award body ! Date ! Category ! Result ! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |- | Edmonton International Film Festival | October 15, 2017 | Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature | {{win}} | <ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Media-Release-2017-EIFF-Awards-1.pdf |title=The Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) Announces 2017 EIFF Jury & Audience Choice Awards |publisher=Edmonton International Film Festival |date=October 15, 2017 |archive-date=July 15, 2019 |access-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715223821/http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Media-Release-2017-EIFF-Awards-1.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> |- | imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival | October 22, 2017 | Special Jury Prize – Moon Jury | {{win}} | <ref>{{cite news |url=https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/17th-annual-imaginenative-film-media-arts-festival-announces-festival-award-winners/ |title=The 17th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival Announces Festival Award Winners |date=October 23, 2017 |work=Native News Online |archive-date=May 13, 2020 |access-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513132736/https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/17th-annual-imaginenative-film-media-arts-festival-announces-festival-award-winners/ |url-status=live}}</ref> |}
==Followup== In 2024 Hubbard began production on a scripted narrative fiction version of the film, also with the working title ''Birth of a Family''.<ref>Jamie Casemore, [https://playbackonline.ca/2024/12/03/tasha-hubbard-wraps-scripted-directorial-debut-birth-of-a-family/ "Tasha Hubbard wraps scripted directorial debut Birth of a Family"]. ''Playback'', December 3, 2024.</ref> Later renamed ''Meadowlarks'', the film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.<ref>Anthony D'Alessandro, [https://deadline.com/2025/07/tiff-lineup-sydney-sweeny-dwayne-johnson-nuremberg-1236463346/ "TIFF Galas & Presentations: World Premieres ‘Good Fortune’, ‘Nuremberg’, Sydney Sweeney Pic ‘Christy’, Angelina Jolie ‘Couture’; North American Debuts Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’, Dwayne Johnson ‘Smashing Machine’"]. ''Deadline Hollywood'', July 21, 2025.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=7109066|title=Birth of a Family}}
{{Tasha Hubbard}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birth of a Family}} Category:2017 films Category:Documentary films about First Nations in Canada Category:National Film Board of Canada documentaries Category:Films directed by Tasha Hubbard Category:2017 Canadian films Category:Sixties Scoop in popular culture