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- Being a parent simply means giving love. Period. In her new documentary film "papa&dada," the award-winning Swiss director Daniela Ambrosoli shows what it means to raise children as a homosexual couple. Four couples, including the famous ballet dancer John Lam and his husband John Ruggieri, talk about of the tough challenges and inspiring joys they experienced in becoming a family. The classic image of the family is fundamentally changing. More and more same-sex couples are fulfilling their dream of having their own children. For her documentary film "papa&dada," the Swiss (canton Ticino) director Daniela Ambrosoli followed four homosexual couples for several years, filming in the USA, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The couples, among them the famous ballet dancer John Lam and his husband John Ruggieri, talk openly and touchingly about how the desire for a family developed, the struggles they faced on the way to becoming a happy family, and how everyday life with their children looks today. The film paints a loving portrait of ordinary family life, and it impressively proves that two fathers experience the same worries, hardships, joys, and challenges as a father and mother do. As parents, papa and dada help their children brush their teeth, tell them bedtime stories, and take them on family outings. The unconditional love that the couples show their children runs like a thread through the film - unobtrusive, but always present. It is summed up in Christian and Mimmo's statement: "Sexual orientation has nothing to do with raising a child. Being a parent simply means giving love. Period." The 90-minute film includes conversations with the surrogate mothers who gave the couples the greatest gift of their lives and with Demis Volpi. The Argentinean is choreographing a ballet piece based on the children's picture book "King & King," in which two princes fall in love. "It's not about homosexuality but simply about universal love," Demis Volpi explains. Stefan Haupt is also featured in the film. The Swiss director caused a sensation in 2014 with "The Circle," a film that tells the love story of Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp, two pioneers in the battle for gay rights. Daniela Ambrosoli is a specialist for sensitive film portraits. In 2011 she won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in Los Angeles for "HN Hermann Nitsch," and in 2018 "The Making of a Dream" was awarded first prize at two renowned festivals. How is everyday family life different when the parents are not father & mother but father & father? Is there any difference at all? And what makes a family? These are questions the renowned Swiss (canton Ticino) filmmaker Daniela Ambrosoli explores in "papa&dada." She filmed in the USA, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, following four same-sex couples over several years: John & John, Mimmo & Christian, Brian & Ferd, and Tim & Josh. The couples share intimate insights into their everyday family life. And what is it like? At the end of the day, exactly the same as that of the conventional family unit with father, mother, and child. They eat together, go on family outings, and the fathers help their children brush their teeth and tell them bedtime stories. Getting children is different: Homosexual men are dependent on adoption or surrogate-mother agencies. Mimmo & Christian followed their surrogate mother's two pregnancies fastidiously - mainly via smartphone because of the pandemic. Kelly sent them ultrasound pictures or audio messages with the heartbeat of the unborn child. During the birth, the two fathers paced the floor nervously and restlessly. Tim & Josh decided to privately adopt, and they tell how they first came home with their baby: "It was strange to suddenly have a baby without having witnessed the pregnancy. We asked ourselves, are we allowed to have a child?" Brian & Ferd scoured the internet for tips and advice. Unlike heterosexual couples, however, what they found was less than meager, so they founded their own platform in 2014. It is now one of the world's only places to go for gay, bisexual, and transgender fathers and those who want to be. John & John were amazed that surrogate-mother agencies offer a wide range of characteristics a child can have: "You can choose the level of IQ, for example - but all we wanted was to have a happy, healthy child," says John Ruggieri. The common thread that runs through the one-and-a-half-hour documentary can be described in a single word: love. The film documents not only the love that the partners feel for each other but also the love they show their children. It is unconditional and completely independent of the parents' sexual orientation. Or as Christian & Mimmo say, "Being a parent simply means giving love. Period." The surrogate mothers are also given a voice. They talk about how it feels to carry someone else's child and thus fulfill a couple's most fervent wish. Daniela Ambrosoli also visited Demis Volpi. The Argentinean is choreographing a ballet piece based on the children's picture book "King & King," in which two princes fall in love. "It's not about homosexuality, but simply about universal love," Demis Volpi explains. Stefan Haupt is also featured in the film. The Swiss director made waves in 2014 with "The Circle," a film about Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp. The couple fought for gay rights in Switzerland for decades. "The traditional family image, consisting of man, woman, and child, is still very much with us - but it is undergoing profound change," says Stefan Haupt. Daniela Ambrosoli is a specialist for sensitive film portraits. In 2011 she won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in Los Angeles for "HN Hermann Nitsch," and in 2018 "The Making of a Dream" was awarded first prize at two renowned festivals.
