

User Score
5 votes
In contrast to the recent spate of gay parent documentaries Paternal Instinct is a fascinating and absorbing insight into the breeding process. We follow two gay men in their search for a suitable surrogate mother, a Wiccan from Maine, and then the agonizing three year long process of trying to get her pregnant. There is the anguish as they discover the impotent link in the fathering chain, the comedy of the repetitive conception rituals and the ecstasy of the birth of their child. With unfettered access to the participants, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Murray Nossel charts every step, and the camera never flinches. Whether you're into the whole parenting thing or not, the sheer humanity of this piece makes it totally absorbing.
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
EN

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

Working through some difficult decisions, Mitchell family matriarch Phylis and patriarch Bill, have summoned their two grown sons – TV stars Mike Mitchell and Brandon Mitchell – home for the holidays. It is their hope that bringing the family together to recreate the Christmas house, will help them find resolution and make a memorable holiday for the entire family and community.