January 10, 2017
A year ago last October, Joey Papa and his wife Nikki lost a child, Canaan. For the entirety of her brief life, Canaan, though never formally diagnosed, dealt with innumerable medical complexities and was what one might describe as a child with "special needs."
In their grief, filmmaker Joey and his wife Nikki felt that Canaan had handed them a baton and that it was their turn to spread the word about their special daughter. Joey turned to the medium he knew best and decided to embark on a documentary project to share the story of Canaan’s life and how she had positively impacted the way his family looks at the world. His goal was to share not only his family’s story but the stories of other families of children with special needs and how they all discovered a fundamental truth: that children with special needs are a blessing and are put on this earth to teach us something.
We talked to Joey about his phenomenal documentary In the Land of Canaan, which is currently under review by several film festivals and will be available for viewing later this year. We also chatted about his next project, Unwanted, a documentary film about the foster care crisis in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Watch the trailer for In the Land of Canaan.
Join the mailing list to find out when and how you can watch In the Land of Canaan.
Learn more about Joey’s next project, Unwanted.