Following the success of their BAFTA and Emmy-nominated 2018 documentary Three Identical Strangers, CNN Films and Raw TV are collaborating again on a new film that will tell the extraordinary story of Paul Fronczak.
The Lost Sons follows Fronczak as he embarks on a quest for answers after he discovered an unnerving mystery about his parents when was just 10 years old. While searching for Christmas presents, he found newspaper clippings about his parents: images of them grieving for a kidnapped baby and then celebrating two years later over a toddler found abandoned and returned to them.
Was Fronczak the missing baby? And if so, where was he for two years of his life? Directed by Ursula Macfarlane (Untouchable; Charlie Hebdo: Three Days That Shook Paris), Fronczak’s story is told through a blend of re-enactments, testimony of close family and first-hand witnesses, news footage, and family archive. Material has been gathered over a year-and-a-half after production started in summer 2019.
Executive producers are Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide; Courtney Sexton, senior vice president for CNN Films; and Liesel Evans, creative director of UK factual at Raw. The Lost Sons is made in association with Campfire, with the company’s founder Ross Dinerstein also serving as an executive producer. CNN Films is handling distribition.
“The Fronczak story has twists and turns you won’t believe and explores profound themes to which we can all relate: the importance and meaning of identity and family,” said Macfarlane. Evans added: “When we first came across Paul’s story, we were immediately gripped. Not only is it an extraordinary real-life thriller, but it also poses profound questions about identity and belonging.”