Press Reviews:
“It's not just that the participants turn out to be poised, articulate and candid. Their position between cultures — some of them are the only Chinese person in the cities they live in — has made them more than usually thoughtful and self-aware. ... You'd have to be a stone not to be moved.”
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Read the full Los Angeles Times review here.
"One needs several hearts to survive the breakage inflicted by SOMEWHERE BETWEEN, a delicately wrought, deeply felt docu-profile of four teenage girls who differ in background and aspirations, but share one life-defining factor: All are Chinese adoptees, and all are trying to come to terms with that fact as they navigate the already perilous waters of American adolescence. As the film states, 80,000 children from China have been adopted in the United States since 1989. Considering Knowlton's sublime subjects and sensitive execution, despite a certain vagueness of context, the docu could have widespread appeal..."
—John Anderson, Variety
Read the full Variety review here.
"SOMEWHERE BETWEEN is poignant and intimate, allowing the audience to walk in others' shoes and better understand issues that are seemingly skin-deep, but that go to the core of identity..."
—Sophia Lee, Los Angeles Times
"Has the power to draw both tears and laughter from the audience"
—Sophia Lee, Los Angeles Times
"SOMEWHERE BETWEEN is a documentary that asks a very simple-sounding, but ultimately extremely complex question: 'Who am I?'"
— Sophia Lee, Los Angeles Times
"Interesting, heartfelt look at the lives and cultural awakening of Chinese girls adopted into the U.S."
—Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine
Read entire New York Magazine review here
"Smart and uncommonly together, each of the featured young women is worth meeting on-screen. Clearly, they were comfortable opening up to Knowlton, who set out to make the film to provide her own adopted Chinese daughter some points of reference for when she is old enough to start grappling with these issues. Well intentioned, emotionally engaging, and never polemical, Somewhere Between is recommended rather strongly..."
—Joe Bendel, JB Spins
Read the entire JB Spins review here
“The film is a gift for everyone who sees it. The girl’s stories open our minds and our hearts. … Through the power of film Somewhere Between allows us to feel the experience of adopted children.”
—Alexandra Marie Daniels, The WIP
Read the entire The WIP review here
"Intense human drama captured on film in a sensitive and unobtrusive way"
—Rusty Gordon, Gordon & The Whale
"Deeply moving! Bring tissues!"
—Carlos Osorio, Toronto Star
“Crying at the start of a movie is usually a sign that you’re in for a powerful experience. The documentary SOMEWHERE BETWEEN sends the viewer into a myriad of emotions as it tracks the lives of four adopted teenagers, some abandoned in China and now living in the United States.”
—Ken Choy, Hyphen Magazine
“A very informative, thought-provoking and ultimately moving documentary exploring both the bright and dark sides of the transnational, Asian adoption controversy.”
—Kam Williams
“SOMEWHERE BETWEEN, a documentary on four Chinese adoptees living in different parts of the United States, is surprisingly affecting.”
—Kalvin Henley, Slant Magazine
“Numerous scenes … radiate with raw, complex emotions triggered by topics of race, identity, and belonging rarely acknowledged head-on in the movies.”
—Kalvin Henley, Slant Magazine
“SOMEWHERE BETWEEN is an uplifting documentary film that relates the lives in America of four teenagers who are among the 80,000 girls brought here from China since 1989, due to its ‘one-child family’ policy.”
—Ralph Seliger, Tikkun Daily
“As this strong, moving documentary shows, for those who came to the U.S., reconnecting to their culture and blood relatives can result in a generation of young people who feel ‘somewhere between’ Chinese and American… All have their own stories, but the common narrative in these ‘trans-racial’ kids’ lives is the strength it takes to be who you are and to flourish when identity becomes one more challenge.”
—Joe Neumaier, NY Daily News
“The film is a beautiful valentine to a group of girls and their fierce parents struggling to forge their own identities ‘somewhere between.’”
—Melissa Silverstein, indieWIRE
“SOMEWHERE BETWEEN is refreshingly free of the cloying, one-size-fits-all dogma that sometimes bedevils the adoption community.”
—Ella Taylor, NPR
“SOMEWHERE BETWEEN is a wonderfully unassuming title for such an honest, well-crafted, and surprisingly complex documentary that surpasses all expectations.”
—Catherine Tan, Washington Square News (NYU)
Read the entire Washington Square News review here
What people are saying:
"For teenage girls, when 'belonging' means everything, this film offers rare insight into a group of girls unsure of where they belong. Clear-eyed and compassionate, 'Somewhere Between' offers a rare glimpse of human nature at it's most soulful and hopeful. The girls' vulnerability and confusion, their courage and their grace (and that of their adoptive parents) make this a deeply moving, thought-provoking and life-affirming film. Very highly recommended."
— Niki Caro, Award-winning director
Whale Rider; North Country
"SOMEWHERE BETWEEN is a beautiful documentary that has the power to move audiences by letting you in on the struggle we all have about identity and family. It explores the phenomenon of the American adoption of young Chinese girls with honesty and humor on both continents."
— Michelle Satter
Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
"Linda Goldstein Knowlton has crafted a true story more compelling than any fiction. Her cameras are there, both in the U.S. and China, when emotional, once-in-a-lifetime events take place. We experience the courage, charm and integrity of these young girls, true citizens of the world."
— Dana Stevens
Writer, City of Angels and For Love of the Game
"SOMEWHERE BETWEEN brilliantly combines the experience of Chinese Adoptees growing up in America and the complexities of an adolescent search for identity. Linda Goldstein Knowlton takes us on a journey into the joys, sorrows and compassion of a unique set of families and challenges us to consider who we are and where we belong."
— Iris Chin Ponte
Ph.D. Department of Child Development Tufts University
"SOMEWHERE BETWEEN gives us an intimate, privileged look into the lives of four thoughtful and articulate young women. These are more than coming-of age stories, each girl is an example of how to grow up with courage and dignity. Linda Goldstein Knowlton has made a revelatory film that sensitively explores issues of identity, family, ethnicity and love. And her film is ...an invaluable contribution to the ongoing story of the American family."
— Kate Amend
Editor of the Academy Award winning documentaries
Into the Arms of Strangers and The Long Way Home
Press Links:
Kickstarter, May 2012:
Indie films find financial backers online through Kickstarter - Los Angeles Times
FilmForward, March & May 2012:
Mumbai Audiences Hit Hard at Film Forward India - Sundance Institute
My Journey Through Morocco with Somewhere Between - Sundance Institute
Los Angeles Film Festival, June 2011:
LAFF Offical Site
Variety Review (pdf)
Variety Review (link)
Indiewire - Women and Hollywood
The Wrap
Hot Docs, Toronto Ontario, May 2011:
Hot Docs Website
Toronto Star Article
The More the Merrier (TmTm) Arts Radio - An Interview with Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Toronto Star Interview
