In Our Own Image

200440 minFilm: Documentary

Direction: Caroline R. Maria

Production: Caroline R. Maria

Script: Caroline R. MariaJoan Scott

Produced by Cinemaria with the collaboration of RDI, the Documentary Channel and Radio-Canada, in association with CBC Newsworld, with the financial participation of the National Film Board of Canada partially funded by Aide au cinéma indépendant (Canada) - ACIC Programme français, and with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund created by the Government of Canada and the Canadian cable industry, the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office, Société de développement des entreprises culturelles, Writers Guild of Canada and Actra.

This title is an acquisition.

Given a choice, what parent wouldn't pick good health for their baby, over a life-threatening disease?

Science is making that choice possible for a growing list of genetic conditions. That's the good news. The bad news is the choices aren't always so clear-cut and may change how society deals with people who are perceived as 'different'.

This film discloses the challenges faced by families with hereditary disorders, who must now decide what parents just a generation ago couldn't even imagine--whether or not to have a child "in their own image." It's a rare glimpse into what the future has in store for the rest of us as tests reveal more and more about what's in our genes.

In Our Own Image follows two couples planning the birth of a child who may inherit their own genetic condition (dwarfism in one case, cystic fibrosis in the other). For them, these are life-or-death questions.

Subject categories


  • Health and Medicine > BioethicsGenetics
  • Sciences > BiologyEthics and BioethicsScientific Perspectives

Credits


director
Caroline R. Maria
writer
Caroline R. Maria
Joan Scott
narrator
Yvan Huneault
director of photography
Gary Theobald
sound recording
Chris Breier
Alaska crew
Tim Boese
Russell Weston
off-line editor
Josée Trottier
assistant director
Josée Trottier
online editor
Sylvain Desbiens
associate producer
Richard C. Fortin
Joan Scott
production coordinator
Benoit Delpech
production assistant
Jean-Sébastien Jasenovic
sound design
Jean-Phillippe Desindes
Marc-André Nadeau
music
Robert Marchand
animation
Franck Maillet
executive producer
Caroline R. Maria