Broken Bird
Black Filmmakers
•
9m 58s
A biracial girl caught between worlds prepares for her Bat Mitzvah and adulthood. Radiating with warmth and lived-in specificity, “Broken Bird,” directed by Rachel Harrison Gordon, is a tender coming-of-age drama about a divided upbringing. Birdie has reached a vulnerable age of anxiety and self-consciousness, which isn’t made any easier by the fact she’s split between two cultural identities, owing to a white mother and a black father (who are no longer together). After being dropped off with her dad for the day — with whom she’s allowed to drink soda, and encouraged to listen to disco music — Birdie confides in him that she’s struggling with her Bat Mitzvah responsibilities. Her father tries to cheer her up, but she’s got a lot on her mind including worrying whether he will attend her upcoming ceremony. The story is semi-autobiographical (read more in our interview with Gordon here), and resonates as a pinpointed exploration of identity told with restraint and nuance, brought home with a great performance from Indigo Hubbard-Salk.
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