"Roots" - Alison Loader (2006)Roots is a one-of-a-kind produce-eye journey through a supermarket - and through the highly sensitive issue of adoption disclosure. As a series of fruits and vegetables each drop into a shopping cart, they quickly get caught up in a conversation about origins. Together, they offer a diet of strongly held opinions: from a weepy apple who desperately seeks the truth about her natural mother, to a moralistic mushroom who thinks adoption information is best kept in the dark. With its bright and a-peeling look, Roots is a brilliant film that will help seed discussion among older children and adults. While the film presents a medley of opinions, it clearly comes down on the side of greater openness. Or, as one outspoken orange puts it: "I tell you, this whole sealed records issue is pissing me off." Directed by Alison Reiko Loader (herself an adoptee), Roots is written by Paul Bellini of the legendary comedy troupe Kids in the Hall, and voiced by an all-star comedic cast, including ex-Kids Scott Thompson and Mark McKinney.
