Part personal quest, part testimonial and part fund-raiser, A Journey in My Mother's Footsteps fulfills disparate agendas for helmer Dina Rosenmeier, a mildly resentful daughter wondering why her humanitarian mother prioritized orphaned Indian children over her own offspring.
Rosenmeier's tendency to insert herself at the center of the story - awkwardly drifting into the frame as she interviews local social workers, carefully inspecting institutions as if she were a high-profile ambassador - at first seems slightly immodest. Gradually, it suggests a deeply unsettling level of self-involvement.
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Village VoiceViolet Lucca
Village VoiceViolet Lucca
Great achievements don't guarantee great documentary - or, as A Journey in My Mother's Footsteps proves, they don't even secure a mediocre one.