My Flesh and Blood (film)

My Flesh and Blood
Directed by	Jonathan Karsh
Produced by	Jennifer Chaiken
Starring	Susan Tom; Anthony Tom; Faith Tom; Joe Tom; Xenia Tom; Margaret Tom
Music by	B. Quincy Griffin; Hector H. Perez
Cinematography	Amanda Micheli
Editing by	Eli Olson
Release date(s)	2003
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

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My Flesh and Blood is a 2003 documentary film by Jonathan Karsh chronicling a year in the life of the Tom family. The Tom family is notable as the mother, Susan, adopted eleven children, most of whom had serious disabilities or diseases. The film itself is notable for handling the sensitive subject matter in an unsentimental way that is more uplifting than one might expect. It was nominated for and won several awards, including the Audience Award and the Director's Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

[edit] Plot

The documentary takes an in-depth at the Tom Family a focus on several of the eleven kids. The film is broken up into seasons starting out with family taking part in Halloween in the fall and ending in the Summer of the upcoming year. The family's unconventional home-life becomes a foundation for the supports, challenges, and successes that they face daily.

[edit] Cast

Susan Tom, Mother of the children
Anthony Tom, who has epidermolysis bullosa
Faith Tom, who survived severe burns as an infant in a crib fire.
Joe Tom, who has cystic fibrosis and ADHD
Xenia Tom, who was born without legs. The condition is referred to as an congenitial amputee
Margaret Tom, who has no severe disabilities and assists her mother.

There are six other children of whom we don't see as much due to the constraints of keeping the film to a reasonable length.