From Romania with Love

In the early ’90s, around 300 Romanian children were adopted by British parents who had witnessed the horrifying conditions in the country’s orphanages in the news. This documentary follows three adoptees – 22-year-old Nicci, Will, 23, and Cezarina who is in her early thirties – as they attempt to track down their forgotten families.

Perhaps it’s a slightly voyeuristic premise, TV-funded trips back through decades of heartache, but this film does provide level-headed contemplation. That’s mainly thanks to the children themselves. While there are some on-screen revelations, there are also filming restrictions on certain authorities and relatives in Romania, which means that most of what we find out is filtered through Will, Nicci and Cezarina’s observations and conclusions. And it’s their remarkable understanding and empathy for their birth parents that set the tone.

Still, it’s not easy to watch. The distress of the Romanian families is disturbing, as are, of course, the original images of the neglected orphans. But it’s the fact it’s those very babies relating the story, along with their thoughts and feelings about what happened, that makes telling it so worthwhile.