Director Tasha Hubbard tells the true story of four of five Cree siblings who were separated in the 1960's by the Canadian government who took them away from their single mother and gave them to white families (it was a program called Scoop). Fifty years on the track each other down and come together to try and reconnect over the course of a week.
This narrative version of the director's 2017 documentary BIRTH OF A FAMILY. It is a story that is close to the heart of Hubbard who was herself relocated by the Scoop program. It is a very good film which reveals what the forced removal of the children in the name of giving them a better life, actually did to them.
And at this point I have to take a step back and say that I can't say much more than that. The issue at hand is that in the wake of seeing Hubbard's SINGING BACK THE BUFFALO last year because it blew me away, I made an effort to try and track down her other films. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, except that a short time before I was given MEADOWLARKS to review, I saw BIRTH OF A FAMILY, which is excellent, and I did not have enough distance to fully take this narrative on its own terms. Watching MEADOWLARKS I was thinking of the earlier film. Therefore, I cannot in good conscious do a deep dive review because it will result in an unfair compare and contrast.
However, what I can say is that MEADOWLARKS is a solid film and on its own terms is worth your time.
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