Berlin

The Baby Formula

 (Canada)

By ALISSA SIMON

A Free Spirit Films, Grindstone Media production in collaboration with Telefilm Canada, Super Channel, ACTRA TIP. (International sales: Filmoption Intl., Montreal.) Produced by Stephen Adams, James Mou, Alison Reid. Executive producers, Paul Zimic, David J. Woods. Co-producer, Paul Lee.
Directed by Alison Reid. Screenplay, Richard Beattie.
 
With: Angela Vint, Megan Fahlenbock, Rosemary Dunsmore, Roger Dunn, Jessica Booker, Dmitry Chepovetsky, Michael Hanrahan, Hal Eisen, RD Reid, Matt Bahram, Alison Reid.
 

An experimental scientific process permits a lesbian couple to make sperm from their own stem cells in the Canadian indie dramedy "The Baby Formula." Structured as a mock docu, this brightly designed feature debut by vet stunt coordinator Alison Reid offers feisty, sometimes lowbrow fun. Incorporating the real-life pregnancies of its game leading ladies, the pic puts bulging bellies, swollen breasts and hormonal mood swings on unabashed display. In the end, more about love, acceptance and family than advancements in science, this sweet-natured "Baby's" got the goods to move beyond the LGBT ghetto to niche arthouse in some territories.

When married Toronto gals Athena (Angela Vint) and Lilith (Megan Fahlenbock) tell their extended families about their "immaculate" conceptions, the news triggers other revelations that ultimately result in them becoming a closer, more loving bunch. Reid, who appears on camera as helmer of the video docu, includes lively footage from Toronto's Gay Pride parade, and for a finale, the first Christmas with the newborn babes. Hilarious end-credits sequence of heavily pregnant Vint and Fahlenbock doing a lip-synch dance to the Black Eyed Peas song "My Humps" keeps viewers in their seats.

Camera (color, HD), Brian Harper; editor, Mark Arcieri; music, Robert Carli, production designer, Bob Sher; costume designer, Leslie Kavanaugh. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (market), Feb. 9, 2009. (Also in Montreal World, Rotterdam film festivals.) Running time: 82 MIN.