Once My Mother

Year: 2013
Description: Filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz tries to make new connections with Helen, her mother with dementia who abandoned her at an orphanage, and tries to understand Helen's difficult life as a Polish refugee who was deported to a Siberian gulag during World War II; trekked to Uzbekistan, Persia, and Africa; and then left for Australia with young Sophia.
Director: Turkiewicz, Sophia
Writer: Turkiewicz, Sophia
Editor: Haslem, Denise
Production Team: Screen Australia, Change Focus Media, Kaleidoscope Films, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Ronin Films
Genre: Documentary
Language: English and Polish with English subtitles
Media Format: 1 DVD (75 min.) or 1 streaming video (75 min.)
Type: Color with black and white sequences
Additional Content: The DVD includes interviews with director Sophia Turkiewicz and producer Rod Freedman and the featurettes "Beginnings" (7 min.), "Behind the Scenes" (9 min.), and "The Forgotten History" (6 min.).
A study guide is available.
Updated: 01-06-2023

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