A Place Between - Curtis Kaltenbaugh, Director

[A Place Between]

A Place Between - Curtis Kaltenbaugh, Director
2007, 74 min 15 s
Documentary Feature
http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=52176
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November 17, 2007

Just wanted to send along a huge Thank You and Congratulations to Curtis Kaltenbaugh for the moving and inspirational story of his life's journey straddling the influences of two cultures.

What courage it must have taken to set out to do this documentary! How he was able to keep looking at the truth even when it was painful to see it and not succomb to the compelling desire to change anything in either world, but just to accept both exactly as they were (are), to simply trust the process. What a beautiful story unravelled.

Curtis seems to be specially gifted to be able to "tell" the story without interfering with it. The miracle of Margaret's recovery from a history of alcoholism and abuse is clearly portrayed, as is the powerful impact of the ordinary folks who availed themselves to love and understand the boys to the best of their ability.

I recognize Curtis's work to be a great model for influencing the work of reconciliation and understanding in the world. I am looking forward to future work done by him. Thank you again.

Mintie Grienke
mgrienke@mts.net

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A Place Between - director Curtis Kaltenbaugh

A dramatic story of the reconciliation between biological and adoptive families. But much more than that, it is the journey of a cross-cultural adoptee who struggles to find balance between his families different ethnicities and traditions, and to discover how he fits into each world.

When filmmaker Curtis Kaltenbaugh, an Ojibway child from Manitoba, was 5 years old his life and that of his brother Ashok were forever changed by a brutal tragedy, the death of their younger brother. Both boys were removed from their birth mother's care in Winnipeg and adopted by a white, middle-class pastor's family in Pennsylvania.

Curtis and Ashok grew up in a world far removed from the harsh realities of their early years. But all was not well in Pennsylvania...they didn't fit in and had to seek out different ways of belonging. Curtis would eventually reconnect with his birth mother, Margaret, while Ashok took a path that wreaked havoc on their quiet, American family.

The film follows Curtis's struggle with his biological family's turbulent history and observes what happens when his biological and adoptive families finally meet.