VPRO 2Doc: Girl in return

2Doc: Girl in return

Imagine that as a child, you cannot ground in your adoptive family. What are your rights?

2Doc: Girl in Return shows the personal consequences of the current international adoption system through the eyes of Amy, an adopted teenage girl.

2Doc: Girl in return

Wednesday 13 March at 20.55 on NPO2

(And afterwards to see here)

Director Katrine Kjaer, produced by Sonntag Pictures, an international co-production with, among others, VPRO.

© sonntag pictures / vpro

The film ‘Girl in Return’ follows Amy in her battle with the Danish and Ethiopian authorities to undo her adoption. At the age of ten, Tigist, as she is still called, is adopted by a Danish family. It seems like a good idea: adoptive parents who have love to give and better conditions and opportunities for the girl. However, how does it work in practice and how is it for her biological mother and older sister in Ethiopia who at the time agreed to the adoption?

© sonntag pictures / vpro

Unlike her younger sister, who has also moved, Amy cannot adjust to her new family. If the situation becomes untenable, she ends up in a foster family. The bond with her foster mother is loving, and she has nice friends, but Amy cannot get used to the Danish culture. A deep desire for and intense grief for the loss of her family, language and culture in Ethiopia dominate her life. Where does she belong?

From her fourteenth to her eighteenth, director Katrine Kjaer follows Amy in her search. Is it possible to cancel Amy's adoption and can she rediscover her identity in freedom?

Kjaer previously made the documentary Mercy Mercy, about the adoption of two Ethiopian children. In Denmark, this led to parliamentary inquiries and parliamentary questions.

Broadcast: Wednesday 13 March at 8.55 pm on NPO 2