Gayby Baby (2015)

Directed by Maya Newell. Marla House.

Ten-year-old Gus is mad about WWE wrestling. Twelve-year-old Ebony wants to get into a prestigious performing arts secondary school. Graham is adapting to life in a new country and Matt wants to play football on Sunday instead of going to church.

These four Australian children are the heart of Gayby Baby, a gentle little film about growing up with same-sex parents.

Its casting is this documentary’s greatest strength. The children are sweet and funny, honest and likeable. Their families open up their lives to the filmmakers so they can be shown exactly as they are — imperfect, but loving families. Their day-to-day struggles and joys are intimate and familiar and Gayby Baby observes them well, piecing together four distinct storylines from what must have been many hours of footage.

Having same-sex parents is a part of these children’s stories. One of the reasons Ebony wants to attend Newtown High School of the Performing Arts is because her mothers think she is more likely to find acceptance among students in that inner-Sydney suburb. But it is not the only important thing. Graham, who was adopted after being neglected by his birth parents and only learned to talk aged five, is struggling to keep up in school. The love and concern shown by his fathers is heartwarming.

The camerawork in Gayby Baby is a little amateurish at times and the editorial decision to focus solely on the children’s experiences sometimes means story opportunities are lost. It would have been interesting to hear more about how Matt’s birth mother reconciled her church attendance with her pastor’s belief that same-sex relationships are sinful, or why Matt’s fathers chose to move to a country where they felt forced to keep their relationship private. But it is a life-affirming film that serves as a snapshot of Australian family life at an interesting time in the country’s social history.