Frozen Angels

Frozen Angels is a mesmerizing effort that is not so much a science documentary as a startling conduit into the future of the American Dream, where "perfect children" can be added to the shopping list. In their visually enthralling documentary, Eric Black and Frauke Sandig brilliantly evoke an atmosphere of familiar otherworldliness as they survey the field of assisted human-reproductive technologies.

The filmmakers focus on this topic as it is played out in the world's capital of reproductive technology -- Los Angeles. No stone is left unturned as Black and Sandig uncover and share the experiences of wealthy sperm-bank presidents; expectant surrogate mothers; gene researchers; hate radio talk show hosts; infertile suburban couples; blonde, blue-eyed egg donors; and grown-up designer babies.

As the film delves deeper, ethical implications begin to emerge: Progress in the filed is moving lightening fast, and with the potential to screen for more than 2,000 genetic diseases coming in the immediate future, is it wrong not to want to risk having "imperfect children" the old-fashioned way? Sperm from the Mecca of the Body Perfect has now become one of the area's leading exports. Is a lurking genetic imperialism being born from Hollywood's cultural dominance? Are we at the dawn of the emergence of a beautiful and brilliant new species of human beings whom only the rich can afford to propagate?