Mission Statement: Reckoning with the Primal Wound aims to foster empathy, understanding, and healing through the power of storytelling. The mission is to illuminate the often-overlooked complexities of the human experience, particularly the profound impact of childhood trauma and attachment issues on individuals and society.
Through the film, we aim to provoke thought, inspire dialogue, and catalyze positive change by shedding light on the primal wound that exists within anyone experiencing the ramifications of genetic severance. We strive to create a safe space for exploration and reflection, inviting audiences to confront uncomfortable truths, challenge preconceptions, and ultimately embark on a journey toward healing and reconciliation while amplifying the need for adoptee’s rights to be examined through legislation.
Driven by a passion for social justice and mental health advocacy, Reckoning with The Primal Wound, seeks to amplify marginalized voices, elevate diverse perspectives, and cultivate a sense of solidarity and compassion among viewers. By bridging the gap between personal narrative and collective consciousness, we envision a world where the wounds of the past are acknowledged, the bonds of empathy are strengthened, and the seeds of transformation are sown.
Through storytelling, outreach efforts, and community engagement initiatives we can chart a path towards a more equitable future for all those impacted by adoption, donor conception, surrogacy, and DNA surprises.
About the filmmaker
Filmmaker and adoptee, Rebecca Autumn Sansom, known in the community as Autumn, alongside her biological mother, Jill Hawkins, Ph.D., have produced the first feature-length documentary reckoning with relinquishment trauma aka the primal wound from both of their perspectives.
For Sansom, the book “The Primal Wound” was the first time she heard an alternate narrative about adoption. A narrative that resonated with her feelings of loss and grief, one that was never presented to her until reading Verrier’s eerily insightful words.
The University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare named the film their #1 media resource for child welfare workers. Laura LeBrun says of the film, “Even in a positive reunion, even in a wonderful family life, there can be an immense amount of pain from adoption, because the primal wound is one that comes with identity issues, feelings of rejection, confusion about one’s history, and more. All members of the adoption triad provide emotional labor through this film, sharing their stories in a way that can only increase our understanding of these complicated feelings. The film wonderfully weaves how important and revolutionary Verrier’s book was to adoptees through interviews with the author as well as many members of the adoptee community. It is an experience that allows the child welfare worker to see firsthand the complicated feelings behind adoption as well as removals and foster care.”
The film premiered at The Catalina Film Festival in Long Beach, CA on September 22, 2022.
