American Documentary

Overview

BOSTON (April 18, 2022) — America ReFramed, the Peabody Award-winning documentary series co-produced byWORLD Channel andAmerican Documentary (AmDoc), delves into the topics of adoption, heritage and cultural identity in two new documentary films debuting this May. Daughter of a Lost Bird, which portrays the journey of an adopted woman returning to her Native American homeland in search of her first mother, will have its national broadcast premiere on WORLD Channel on Thursday, May 5, at 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CT/9 p.m. PT). Later in the month for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Geographies of Kinship, about four adoptees from South Korea looking to reconnect with their homeland in search of answers, will air on Thursday, May 19, at 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CT/9 p.m. PT). Both will stream on worldchannel.org and other platforms.

“These powerful films are important additions to the America ReFramed catalog, providing us with a glimpse into the personal journeys of adopted individuals, as they explore their heritage, history and place in society,” said Chris Hastings, executive producer/managing editor of WORLD Channel at GBH in Boston. “Despite being born into different cultures, the adoptees share similar questions: where am I from, why was I adopted and what defines my identity?”

Daughter of a Lost Bird centers around Kendra, a Native American adoptee, who grew up assimilating in a white family with no connection to her Indigenous heritage. Now, as an adult with a family of her own, she embarks on a seven-year journey to find her biological mother, April, and return to Lummi Nation, home of the original inhabitants of Washington’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia. Together, Kendra and April, also a Native American adoptee, navigate what it means to be Indigenous and to belong to their tribe, the Lummi Nation. The film exposes the multifaceted personal costs of the genocide that was inflicted upon Indigenous people by the United States government through forced adoption programs and other assimilation tactics. The feature is directed by Brooke Pepion Swaney, a writer, producer, director and educator who was a PBS Wyncote Fellow and a Sundance Native Lab/Time Warner Fellow.

Geographies of Kinship, directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem, tells the complex stories of four adult adoptees born in South Korea and raised in the United States and Europe, who are looking to reconnect with their roots and a homeland they never knew. The film attempts to answer the question of why overseas adoptions continued to proliferate decades after their rise during the Korean War, as South Korea underwent rapid industrialization, becoming one of the world’s top economies. These adoptions would leave many searching for answers about their culture and identity. Liem’s other award-winning films, First Person Plural and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, also explore Korean adoption including her own.

“Daughter of a Lost Bird and Geographies of Kinship offer audiences poignant and honest looks at the cultural and personal ramifications of adoption,” said Chris White, executive producer for the series at the New York-based nonprofit American Documentary. “Created by two stand-out female filmmakers, both films artfully showcase a nuance and depth in storytelling [that can only be] informed by the directors' own lived experiences.”

Daughter of a Lost Bird is a coproduction of Same Land Film and Vision Maker Media.

Geographies of Kinship was made possible in part by a major grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Democracy demands wisdom. The film is a presentation of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, a non-profit partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

In addition to the broadcast debut, the new episodes will be streaming on worldchannel.org, WORLD Channel’s YouTube Channel and on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. For more information, visit www.WORLDchannel.org.

About America ReFramed

America ReFramed is a co-production of the WORLD Channel and American Documentary, Inc. The series curates a diverse selection of independent documentaries that brings to national audiences compelling stories which illuminate the changing contours of our ever-evolving country. Viewers will be immersed in stories that span the spectrum of American life, from the streets of towns big and small to its exurbs and country roads. The documentary series presents an array of personal voices and experiences through which we learn from our past, understand our present and are challenged to seek new frameworks for America’s future.

America ReFramed is the recipient of a Peabody Award and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for broadcast journalism. The series has earned several Christopher, GRACIE, Telly and Cine Golden Eagle Awards, as well as multiple nominations for Emmy, Independent Documentary Association and Imagen Awards.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia arts organization dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation. AmDoc is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Additional funding for America ReFramed is provided by the Open Society Foundations, Reva and David Logan Foundation, Acton Family Giving, Park Foundation and Perspective Fund.

About WORLD Channel

WORLD shares the best of public media in news, documentaries and programming. WORLD’s original series examine the issues and amplify the voices of those often ignored by mainstream media. The multicast 24/7 channel helps audiences understand conflicts, movements and cultures from around the globe. Its original work has won a Peabody Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, a National News and Documentary Emmy Award, two Webby Awards and many others honoring diversity of content and makers. WORLD is carried by 195 member stations in markets representing 75.1% of US TV households. Funding for WORLD Channel is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and Artworks. WORLD is produced by GBH in partnership with WNET and is distributed by American Public Television (APT). Find out more at WORLDChannel.org.