My name is Shon, and I’m creating a documentary called Finding Home.

I grew up without any real understanding of either side of my heritage. For years, I’ve been gathering whatever small clues I could find, trying to piece together where I come from and who I belong to. This documentary follows my search for identity as I trace my Cree and Laotian roots — uncovering who my ancestors were, where they lived, and what it means to carry the blood of two cultures in my veins despite growing up disconnected from both.

I am now in the research and development phase. So far, I’ve discovered seven Cree Nations connected to the region where my mother was adopted, the names of my biological grandparents, and a distant Laotian family connection that I hope to rebuild.

This phase will focus on creating the historical, emotional, and cultural foundation of the film:

• Conducting oral history interviews with family members and Indian Registries
• Researching genealogy and archival records to identify my ancestral Cree band
• Beginning the Laotian side of the search, including the village where my father grew up
• Establishing contacts in Laos for future travel, translation, and community partnership
• Developing a written treatment, mood reel, and production plan

Throughout this process, I’m committed to ethical, community-guided storytelling — ensuring both Indigenous and Laotian perspectives are approached with respect, accuracy, and care.

I’ve already connected with other documentary filmmakers, joined the Documentary Organization of Canada, and begun applying for grants. But R&D funding is never guaranteed, so launching this crowdfunding campaign feels like the most realistic first step in bringing Finding Home to life.

I plan on making a feature length documentary so $10k is just scratching the surface but a good jumping point to catch flight.

Sorry if the earlier campaign launch confused anyone. GoFundMe had this automated goal algorithm on by default which dropped it to 10% of the actual goal.

And we don't play games here. Full transparency.