This film makes me think about my past, my history.
Where am I from. I don’t even know.
My parents never talk about our ancestors, who they are,
where they live, and how do they connect to me.
Now seeing this film, I hope I can talk to my parents about where they came from.
It evoked the questions “Who Am I?“
I always thought that who I was only had to do with what I did and my actions,
but after the film I realize that maybe finding out who I was had to do with
finding out more about the people that came before me.

(8th grade student)

I just read an article in the New York Times by Bruce Feiler — The Family Stories That Bind Us — which explores the importance of developing “a strong family narrative”.  

One study found that the “more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”  In fact, this turned out to be the best single predictor of children’s emotional health, resilience and happiness…because they had a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, and had a strong “inter-generational” sense of self.

 Definitely an interesting read…