A Portrait of My Parents by Philip Sinden

A moving and deeply personal evening brought together a room full of adoptees for a special screening of A Portrait of My Parents, a film by Philip Sinden.

This film was an intimate account of Philip’s adoption journey, tracing the discoveries he made about his origins and the difficult decisions that accompanied each new revelation. The film was shot beautifully in an emotionally, thought-provoking way, with humour and sadness and taking us on a journey from Scotland to Pakistan. While every adoptee’s experience is unique, the film’s honest exploration of identity, family and belonging resonated.

Quietly powerful in its storytelling, A Portrait of My Parents invited viewers to reflect on their own parents — those who are near or far, known or unknown — and to consider the circumstances, choices and motivations that shaped their lives. As Philip explored the decisions made by others in his own story, audience members were encouraged to reflect on the complexities within their own.

Joining Philip for the evening was friend and co-investigator Lemn Sissay who appears in the film and played a role in supporting Philip’s search. Following the screening, Lemn hosted a thoughtful Q&A session that explored the film’s evolution since its previous screening at Coram two years ago, the significance of the additions made since then, and the emotional impact of revisiting such personal experiences on screen.

The evening offered not only a screening but a rare opportunity for reflection, discussion and connection, leaving many with a renewed appreciation of the personal journeys that shape every adoption story.

A Portrait of My Parents screening took place at The Hackney Picturehouse in May 2026 and was attended by adoptees from our Adopt London support networks – including Transition to Adulthood, How to be Adopted, the Transracial Adult Adoptee Network (TAAN) and the local support groups across Adopt London.

A huge thank you to all – especially to Philip for sharing his personal journey with us.

If you are an adult adoptee (living in one of our 24 London boroughs) and want to meet with other adoptees or our support teams, please click the links above to get in contact.