10/17/02-Boston College Law School is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a repeat screening of Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America, a public television documentary about white couples adopting African-American children. The film will be shown on October 28 at 7 p.m. in room 120 of the Law School’s East Wing, and will be followed by a question and answer panel with the film’s director. The show is free and open to the public.

BC Law professor Ruth-Arlene Howe served a vital role as an advisor on the documentary, which was produced by Big Mouth Productions. Directed by Phil Bertelsen, an African-American filmmaker who was himself adopted by white parents in the early 1970s, the film features three American families brought together—and at times pushed apart—by transracial adoption. The film examines the bonds and strains that family members can experience when white couples decide to adopt black children. Through the stories of three generations of adoptees, the film explores how transracial adoption has changed since the early 1970s.

"This is a powerful and moving piece that all who care about children should see," said Professor Howe. "Last year when I showed the film to my Family Law: Child, Parent & State class, it left many speechless."

Outside Looking In is a presentation of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Black Programming Consortium.