Third culture kids, or “TCKs.” One type of Blended Culture, TCK refers to those of us who have grown up in multiple locations and enlarged our definitions of “home.” We have multiple homes, all near and dear to us. We have multiple cultures, some of which we may be more fluent in than others, and all of which hold deep meaning for us. And, we have created “third cultures,” “blended cultures,” a global, multicultural or cosmopolitan definition of self and family.
The Blended Culture experience is increasingly common. As an expatriate myself, my son is a TCK with multiple national culture affiliations; it’s crucial for me to understand a bit of his experience if I am to parent him appropriately. I pray he grows up to reconcile his identity in constructive, multicultural ways. For those of us who work in international business, schools, study abroad, and with immigrants, it is also extremely helpful to understand at least a bit about the TCK experience. Three recent films may help us do just that.
The first film is called So Where’s Home? A Film About Third Culture Kid Identity, and is by Adrian Bautista. You can view the nine-minute film in its entirety below.
A second film is the award-winning “The Road Home,” directed by Rahul Gandotra. This 24-minute short can be rented or purchased, and the director is currently making a feature length movie about the same characters. You can view a two-minute clip of the film below.
TCKs have unique skill sets and unique challenges. The powerful trailer below (almost nine minutes) shows us what Aga Alegria has in mind as she sets about fundraising to make her documentary film about the TCK experience. Click here to learn more about that effort, or perhaps help her out.
We wish all these ventures very well with this important and timely topic! Learn more about a tool to help make the most of the TCK experience.