''Donor Unknown'' is a 2010

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by

Jerry Rothwell Jerry Rothwell is a British documentary filmmaker best known for the award-winning feature docs ''How to Change the World (film), How to Change the World'' (2015), ''Town of Runners'' (2012), ''Donor Unknown'' (2010), ''Heavy Load'' (2008) and ''D ...

and produced by Al Morrow and Hilary Durman. A 21st-century tale of identity and genetic inheritance, this film tells the story of a

sperm donor Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other "fertility treatment" of one or more women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by h ...

and the children who want to meet him. It follows JoEllen Marsh as she goes in search of the sperm donor father she only knows as Donor 150.

Plot outline

JoEllen, now 20, has always known her family ‘wasn't like other families'. She grew up in Lander, Pennsylvania in rural Warren County with two mothers, and a burning curiosity to know more about her anonymous donor father. When JoEllen discovers a unique online registry which connects donor-conceived children, she manages to track down a half-sister in New York. The New York Times picks up the story, and, over time 12 more half-siblings emerge across the United States. The article also falls into the hands of Jeffrey Harrison, living alone with four dogs and a pigeon in a broken-down RV in a Venice Beach car park. In the 1980s, Jeffrey supplemented his meager income by becoming a sperm donor at California Cryobank. His number was Donor 150. Donor Unknown is a uniquely 21st-century story. The connections made between the children and their donor dad draw as much on modern technology as on old-fashioned coincidence. While the siblings seem to take their ever-expanding family in their stride, Jeffrey is more apprehensive about meeting some of his biological children for the first time. Funny, moving and surprising Donor Unknown raises intriguing questions about our understanding of parenthood, and the strange power of the genetic imperative.

Television broadcast

It was broadcast on 28 June 2011 on the British channel

More 4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

Reception

Donor Unknown has been well received by critics and film goers alike.

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called it a 'amusing and sweet-natured documentary' although he felt that there might be a deeper, more complex story to tell about the siblings' relations with each other and Harrison's own life. While

Philip French Philip Neville French (28 August 1933 – 27 October 2015) was an English film critic and radio producer. French began his career in journalism in the late 1950s, before eventually becoming a BBC Radio producer, and later a film critic. H ...

, from

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

, called it an 'engaging' film.

Awards

It won the Silverdocs Audience Award which is the result of audience votes throughout the festival in Silver Spring, Maryland. The film also won the Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Award for Best Feature Film.

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten-tomatoes, donor_unknown_2011
''Donor Unknown''
site for

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

2010 films 2010 documentary films British documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films English-language documentary films