I Know CoMo » Blog Archive » Sunshine- A documentary about the changing role of single mothers.

Sunshine- A documentary about the changing role of single mothers.

Posted on 18 October, 2009 | No Comments

by Alex Goff

“Sunshine” is a documentary made by Karen Skloss telling her story of her journey into single parenthood, and also getting to know her biological mother’s story about her decision to give her up for adoption. She points out the irony of history repeating itself. She explored the social movement from the time when she was born in 1975 when pregnancies outside of wedlock were considered shameful and kept secret, to today, when many parents are single and nobody even really asks questions.

This film was really enjoyable. Karen narrates the film and tells her story so well. There is a lot of humor in it, considering it is about such a heavy topic. She does a wonderful job of exploring family values and what it means to be a family, and comes to the conclusion that it’s okay to have a family that is not “ideal”.

The film was very well put together. She blended footage of just sitting around chatting with old home videos and some really beautiful shots. The film shows women as beautiful and strong people who sometimes find themselves in unplanned circumstances.

After the film, many of the audience comments were from people who came from untraditional families who wanted to express their appreciation for Karen’s style of storytelling and her beautiful portrayal of an untraditional family. I agree, this is a film worth seeing, no matter what your family is like.