Little White Lie

Premiered March 23, 2015

Directed by

Lacey Schwartz and James Adolphus

EXPLORE THE FILM

About the Documentary

Filmmaker Lacey Schwartz grew up in a typical upper middle class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her identity, despite occasional remarks from those around her who wondered how a white girl could have such dark skin. As a child she believed her family’s explanation — that her appearance was inherited from her dark-skinned Sicilian grandfather — but when she reaches her adolescence, and her parents abruptly separate, her gut begins to tell her something else.

Lacey’s suspicions intensify when she attends a more diverse high school, where she suddenly doesn’t quite fit any racial profile, and her classmates are vocal about noting it. At the urging of her boyfriend, who is of mixed race, she begins to question her true identity and the validity of her parents’ explanation. At 18, Lacey finally confronts her mother and learns the truth about her biological father.

As Little White Lie shows, both the bonds and the lies told between family members can run deep. Lacey strives to reconcile her newfound African American heritage with her Jewish upbringing, and discovers that in order to define herself, she must first come to terms with her parents’ choices and how much she is willing to let their past affect her future.

Piecing together her family history and the story of her dual identity using home videos, archival footage, interviews, and episodes from her own life, Lacey discovers that answering those questions means understanding her parents’ stories as well as her own.

The Filmmaker

Lacey Schwartz is the CEO of the production and outreach organization Truth Aid. She has over a decade of experience in the nonprofit and media sector working with a variety of production companies, networks, and organizations including MTV, BET, @radical.media, Be’chol Lashon/Institute for Jewish Community and Research, and NASCAR. Little White Lie is her first film as a director. She also executive produced the narrative film Difret, which won audience awards at the 2014 Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. Prior to her media career, Schwartz was a professional DJ and public high school math and theater teacher. She has a BA from Georgetown University, a JD from Harvard Law School, and is a member of the New York State Bar. She speaks widely on issues of diversity and the use of media to spark dialogue around important social issues, giving people tools that lead to personal evolution and social change.

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