We Are Family - The Deebles

Families make us what we are. They are our past, our present and our future. They define and identify us and, as we all know from personal experience, are hugely complicated. The Deeble family is no exception. In this moving film, we follow as, over the course of one extraordinary weekend, they come together to confront and bury the ghosts of a past that has haunted all of them. Like many others during the 1950s and early 1960s, Reginald Deeble came to the UK from the West Indies in search of a better life for his young family. But sadly, not long after settling in Port Talbot in South Wales, tragedy struck when Reginald's wife died leaving him to care for their five children. Unable to cope alone, Reginald was forced to take drastic action. He had a photograph taken of the family, dressed up in their Sunday best, and sent it home to Jamaica with the aim of attracting a surrogate mother for his children. Months later 'Aunt' Nomi arrived on the doorstep and their lives and family would never the same again. For nearly four decades Linda, Ishmael, Lloyd, Selina and Derek have buried their feelings about 'Aunt' Nomi and the dramatic impact she had on their family. Now, for the first time, all five Deeble children, surrounded by husbands, wives, children and grandchildren, are coming together to share the painful memories of childhood and finally face up to what happened to them all those years ago. It is a weekend of extreme highs and desperate lows. But even if the siblings can come to terms with their difficult past, will it be enough to bring the family back together? Can this reunion kick-start a process of reconciliation that will bring the Deebles closer than they've ever been?