Off and Running

(Past) Sun, Feb 21 at 3 pm (Past) Sun, Feb 28 at 6:15 pm (Past) Sun, Mar 7 at 6:15 pm Leonard Nimoy Thalia $11; Members $7; Seniors $9 Get two tickets per film, (not per screening), for an entire year for just $100 with a Thalia Film Pass!

2009. Nicole Opper. USA. 76 min. Color.

Silverdocs: WGA Screenplay Award

Outfest: Jury Prize - Best Documentary

Philadelphia Q Fest: Jury Prize - Best Documentary

“CRITICS’ PICK! Fascinating and intimate.”
-New York Magazine

“Lyrically made, Nicole Opper’s film addresses universal questions –– “Who am I?” and “Where do I come from?” –– with remarkable intelligence, sensitivity, and grace… It is an inspiring, and deeply moving portrait.” –Gary M. Kramer, Gay City News

“One of the most poignant films in this year’s festival... a unique and very American coming-of-age story that delves into the psyche of race through a fresh and careful dissection of a family's struggle.” –Joel Hoglund, Tribeca Film Festival

“What at first looks like a heartwarming portrait of a highly blended modern family turns into a no less engrossing illustration of that situation's possible pitfalls … Stirring and accomplished.” –Dennis Harvey, Variety

Avery is a typical Brooklyn teen living in an atypical, United Nations-style melting pot. Her adoptive parents are white Jewish lesbians, her younger brother is Korean, her older brother is mixed-race, and she is black. Though her household is loving, she can't quite quell her curiosity about her biological African-American roots. The decision to contact her birth mother sparks a complicated exploration of race and identity. As Avery's selfawareness increases, the question of racial identity takes center-stage. The more she searches for answers about her biological family, the more emotionally charged and distant from her current family she becomes. She maintains her position on the school track team, but drops out of high school and eventually leaves home.

Avery's constant displacement—whether it was at her Jewish elementary school, or among black friends, or even at home—informs her difficult journey, objectively documented by director Nicole Opper. Most impressive is Opper's poised camera, able to capture honest and articulate conversations between Avery and her incredibly attentive brother Rafi. Off and Running is a unique and very American coming-of-age story that delves into the psyche of race through a fresh and careful dissection of a family's struggle.

Music by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)