Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program, has invited one Lab Fellow this year to share her voice from the Labs at Sundance, Utah. Deann Borshay Liem will share blog entries with the documentary and human rights community. Through her eyes, visitors will get to experience some aspect of Lab Fellowship, and of Deann’s experience with the creative process.

Deann Borshay Liem is the director of PRECIOUS OBJECTS OF DESIRE for which she was first awarded a grant from the DFP in 2006. In the film she goes on a quest to search for her “double”, a girl named Cha Jung Hee, in an attempt to resolve a case of mistaken identity that took place when she was adopted from South Korea by an American family in 1966. In the process she explores complexities of international transracial adoptions. Deann’s previous, Emmy Award-nominated documentary, FIRST PERSON PLURAL, premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. That story followed her as she bravely united her biological Korean and adoptive American families.

The Sundance Documentary Film Program conducts two creative labs each summer. Each is a week-long residential fellowships held at the Sundance Resort, and is by invitation only. The Documentary Edit and Story Lab pairs filmmakers with Creative Advisors to advance works-in-progress. This seven-day lab focuses on story editing, character development and dramatic structure, and engaging with the creative process.

Filmmaker Magazine has picked up the story and has published it on their website. Check for updates on Deann’s story throughout the Lab!