Most people don't think of giving birth as a group activity. But most people aren't like Stephanie. She's a free spirited and very pregnant performance artist who has just gone into labor. And with a couple of quick phone calls, she surrounds herself with family, life-long friends and a plethora of ex- (and not-so-ex-) boyfriends to witness and participate in the birth. Her older sister, Anita, is bossy, high-strung, and just a little bitter about her own childlessness. Steph's pal Dani is a ditzy newscaster in love with Anita's husband, Jack. Gary (Colin Mochrie, improv-master from TV's Whose Line is it Anyway?) is a meek ex still in love with Steph. Then there's Steph's live-in boyfriend Ian (Tom Melissis), who's got his fingers crossed that he's the father, and Julia the midwife, who has known Steph since they were both two years old. And no one, it seems, is quite sure who the father is. That's just one of the many twists and turns this raucous comic drama takes over the course of the next 36 hours. The fact that (A) the entire film was improvised in front of the camera, and (B) this is the feature film debut of director Deborah Day, makes the dazzling ensemble work of the cast and the mile-a-minute jokes and dramatic revelations all the more amazing. The result-the My Big Fat Greek Wedding of, er, home birth films-has sleeper hit written all over it.
Winner of the award for Most Popular Canadian film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
- Tod Booth

Warning: This film contains nudity and sexual content

 8th Street Cinemas A, Friday, March 7, 7:00 PM

The Egyptian Theatre, Saturday, March 8, 2:15 PM