Spring Break
The Daily OrangeHis born identity
Senior Chris Ventura documents his trip to Texas in search to find his biological mother in "Baby Boy Clemmer"
By Erinn Connor
Posted: 5/7/08, 8:05 PM EST Section: Feature
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In a turquoise polo shirt, the 21-year-old Ventura looks like a child again, amongst the monkey bars and jungle gym. A lost child waiting for someone to find him.
A car pulls up, and Ventura gets up and begins walking toward the parking lot, slowly. He's nervous. A woman steps out of the car and begins walking toward Ventura.
"Hi," Ventura says, with a bit of a relieved laugh. He's found her, finally. He's found his mother - his biological mother.
But before there are any other reactions - tears of joy, a smile, a hug - everything goes black. The words "Baby Boy Clemmer" flash across the screen, then "Fall 2008," then nothing.
**
This is just one excerpt from Ventura's documentary, "Baby Boy Clemmer," in which he filmed the journey it took to finding his birth mother and the rest of the journey that's yet to come.
"I've always known I was adopted, since I can remember," Ventura said. "It never really became a realization until I got to college, and I started to think about, 'You know, I have another family out there, and I want to find them.'"
But as a film major, Ventura couldn't ignore the opportunity to turn this search into a movie. He was assigned to make a 10-minute short film in class, and Ventura took the chance to explore his personal life and what he could do with film.
He didn't stop there. What Ventura, a senior, had made for the project - footage of himself interviewing his parents about the search, mixed with clips from his childhood and him being interviewed by his girlfriend - wasn't enough. Ventura, who hadn't completed his search, wanted to document it to the end. Until he found whom he was looking for.
Born and raised in Holmdel, N.J., Ventura had a regular, normal childhood. As an only child, he was his parents' pride and joy, their baby boy. They never hid the fact that Chris was not their biological son, and while growing up, Ventura wore his adoption like a top hat - a quirk that made him stand out from his classmates, a conversation point.
"As a kid, you're telling your friends 'Oh I'm adopted' and no one really knows what it means," Ventura said. "And you don't really start to think about what it means. It's kind of like the same thing as 'Oh I'm cool, I wear glasses.'"
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Anthony
posted 5/18/09 @ 5:44 PM EST
Get your gameboy ready!
LUCILLE VENTURA SCLAFANI
posted 5/20/09 @ 11:01 AM EST
DEAR MY NEPHEW CHRISTOPHER
I CANT BELIEVE HOW MUCH TIME HAS PAST. I WAS SURFING
THE NET AND WHEN I CAME UPON THIS QUEST OF YOURS.
I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOUR FOLLOWING YOUR HEART. (Continued…)
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