All About Adoption: film by young people from Tees Valley is premiered

A group of young people from Tees Valley have made a short film about adoption, sharing their own experiences of being adopted and examples of the questions they get asked along the way.

The film, called All About Adoption, premiered at an event at Stockton’s Georgian Theatre, where it was watched by an audience of social workers, local authority staff, adoption professionals, other adopted children and their families, and the young filmmakers’ families.

The group, who are all aged between 12 and 18, worked with North East-based charity Blue Cabin to learn filmmaking techniques and share their own personal stories and perspectives.

Jenny Young, director of Blue Cabin, explained how the group was supported by two of Blue Cabin’s Associate Artists to make the film: “We have a team of artists who work alongside care-experienced children and young people, supporting them to explore their own life stories in a trauma informed way,” said Jenny.

“For this project, the young people worked with artist Nic Golightly and filmmaker Laura Degnan over a number of weeks. They learnt skills including script-writing and animation, before working together to make this short film, which has had incredible feedback from everyone who’s seen it.

“This project has been delivered in partnership with Adoption Tees Valley; it’s the first time we’ve worked together and we’re hoping that this is the beginning of a long term relationship between our organisations.”

The film uses live action, stop motion animation and graphic design. It is voiced by the young people, who talk about their experiences at home and at school. They share some facts about adoption as well as insights into how they feel when people ask questions about them being adopted. And they end the film with a request: “Please don’t tell my story, let me tell it.”

One of the group described what they hoped the film would achieve: “My aim is that it raises awareness about how even the littlest of comments, such as ‘how come you’re adopted?’, can impact an adopted child. The film showcases the highs and lows of being adopted and the impact of this towards adopted individuals. It was designed by individuals who themselves are adopted and wanted to show others what we are capable of.”

When they first watched their complete film, members of the group said, “It’s beautiful”, “It’s more than I expected. I thought it was all gonna be play doh and a voiceover!” and “It’s a privilege to be a part of.”