“Diary of a Lost Bird”

(USA)

Screened at the American Film Institute Documentary Film Festival (AFI DOCS) (4/5)

Finding oneself can be a challenging enough process under the best of circumstances. But, for Kendra Mylnechuk Potter, a Native American woman adopted into a White family as part of a program aimed at intentionally obliterating the existence of American Indian culture, that process has been more complicated than usual as she seeks to find her birth family in order to find herself. At more than seven years in the making, director Brooke Swaney’s highly personal film depicts her subject’s emotional journey to discover her roots and to find a part of herself that has long been missing, an offering that’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming. A must-see for anyone looking to see who they really are and to discover what they need to make themselves whole.