“It is a fact that we are constantly choosing those who we want to be accompanied by and those who we want to give ourselves to. Same thing happens with our children, be them biological or not. In the collective unconscious, there's this notion about adoption suggesting that the desire of the adults should be priorized — instead of the desire of finding a family for one or several kids. Our film shows a change of paradigm: the children are the ones who have the right to have a family — instead of the adults having the right to be parents,” says Mario Levit, director of the documentary Ellos te eligen, an informative, sensitive take on the usually long and winding road to adopting children in Argentina.
By telling the story of Laura Salvador and Laura Rubio, two caring mothers who now work together and adopted children years ago when they still didn't know each other, Levit draws a detailed, up-to-date portrayal of the different aspects of a complex scenario. The self-managed groups run by Salvador and Rubio, as well as other women and men, work for or organize forums and meetings for prospective adoptive parents, helping them with their questions, doubts and the bureaucratic obstacles and flaws of the current legislation.
With plenty of data and exhaustive research, Ellos te eligen also poses many hard-to-answer questions. How to know if a couple wanting to adopt children is in fact suitable to do so? What kind of environment will they offer them? What can be done to find parents for children with some kind of illness? Why do some adoptions work and others don't? In turn, the answer to these and other questions provides a most useful guide to orientate not only prospective adoptive parents, but also society at large. It's not only about raising awareness, but also about doing it the right way.
There's also a brief history of how the adoption system has changed over the years, which helps understand why things are better done today than before.
In a very concrete manner, Levit gives his interviewees the liberty and confidence to speak up, and always bears in mind that the children are the ones who have a moral and legal right to have parents. That’s why each decision must be in accordance with their well being and choice. After all, adopting children is a profound act of love and nothing but.
Production notes:
Ellos te eligen. Argentina, 2014. Written by: Mario E. Levit, S. Bugallo, M. Maran. Directed by: Mario E. Levit. Cinematography: Henry Rodríguez Ortiz. Sound: Javier Ruiz. Editing: Andrés Tambornino. Produced by: Cruz del Sur Cine — UNTREFMEDIA (Universidad de 3 de febrero). Running time: 62 minutes. Limited release: Gaumont.
