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Inside Out Wins Big in Adoption at the Movies Awards

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     The online adoption and foster care community has honored several films with the announcement this week of the Third Annual Adoption at the Movies Awards. The awards, voted on by the readers of the adoption movie review website Adoption at the Movies, honor films that portray adoption, foster care, or relevant issues in ways that are helpful to foster and adoptive families. 

     This year’s top awards – Best Animated Film and Film of the Year – were both taken by Disney/Pixar’s INSIDE OUT, directed by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen. Other winners are:

     The Adoption at the Movies Awards are voted on in January and February, and are announced on Adoption at the Movies each year on the Tuesday before the Academy Awards. Adoption at the Movies was founded in 2012 by Addison Cooper, a licensed clinical social worker in the adoption field, who also writes THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER's Social Work Goes to the Movies column, as well as a movie review column for Foster Focus. Adoption at the Movies is read by a worldwide audience of adoptees and foster and adoptive parents. Cooper explains, “Adoptive families are often surprised to see adoption themes reflected in mainstream movies. Sometimes, parents are surprised when their kids are hit especially hard by themes of loss or abandonment. At the same time, films can be excellent tools to help start important conversations.... INSIDE OUT in particular does a wonderful job of setting the stage for kids to talk about – and understand – their own emotions, and while that’s important for any family, it might be especially important  and particularly challenging, for foster and adoptive families.”  

     The awards can serve as a guide for social workers who want to incorporate movies or film into their practice. "The Adoption at the Movies Awards tend to have emotionally-intelligent winners and nominees that could be helpful viewing for any clients, not just those touched by adoption or foster care," Cooper says. "Stories and films can be helpful tools of healing, and the Awards winners and nominees are a good place to discover films that a social worker might want to use in their practice." He adds that some of the nominees for Best Short Film, especially, would be helpful educational tools for professionals, saying, "Many of these films are drawn from the real-life experiences of people who have been adopted, and hearing from them could increase a professional's understanding of adoption issues and empathy for adopted people."

     Cooper points out that for each of the last two years, the Best Film award was also won by the Best Animated Film winner - Inside Out for 2016 and Big Hero 6 for 2015. "It makes sense," he reflects. "Animated films can be very profound and very intelligent. Inside Out was very smart about the role of sadness in our lives. Big Hero 6 was powerful in how it captured the real impact of the loss of a loved one and the road to recovery from that loss. 

     Was Cooper surprised by any of the results? "Creed won two awards - Best Adoptive or Foster Family and Best Adoptive or Foster Parent, for the caring, nurturing relationship shown between Donnie and Mary Anne. Before I saw Creed, it wasn't on my radar as a particularly important film for foster and adoptive families. As I watched, I was surprised how relevant and positive it was. I didn't make any guesses as to who would win awards once the voting started, but in a way, Creed surprised me by being the kind of film to even be on the ballot - and that it won twice is just great!"

     Read more about the Adoption at the Movies Awards nominees and winners at: http://www.adoptionlcsw.com/2016/02/the-third-annual-adoption-at-movies.html

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