Thank You for Coming

Director Sara Lamm describes her search for her biological father in this engaging documentary essay. Despite a rather snarky title, the film is a good-natured personal piece marked by the spunky, if also rather clumsy, sense of humor with which the director-star reacts to the revelation that the man she assumed to be her biological father actually was not, after which Lamm goes on a quest to track down her real sperm donor father. Part of the story involves her re-engaging with the man she thought was her dad, and with the male friend her mother lived with before her death. A search for evidence through DNA databases also involves an elderly aunt on Lamm’s mother’s side, who is happy to help. Much of the new footage, however, follows Lamm’s relationship with Jennifer, another woman who was conceived through the same sperm bank and might be her biological half-sister, and with Jennifer’s mother, who describes the experience of becoming pregnant through sperm donation in the 1970s, providing a window into why Lamm’s mother chose to keep her secret from her daughter until she died. Thank You for Coming suffers somewhat from Lamm’s narration, which often has a forced genial quality, and from her rudimentary biological discussions, accompanied by primitive graphics. But it is enlivened by excerpts from old home movies, Lamm’s increasingly close connection with Jennifer, and her interactions not only with her non-biological father but also her own husband and children. And it has a decidedly happy ending. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)