Movie “Once My Mother”

The Pilsudski Institute cordially invites you to the screening of award-winning, feature documentary, with participation of the director Sophia Turkiewicz and the producer Rod Freedman.

“Once My Mother”.

Monday, November 24th, 6:30 PM
Pilsudski Institute, 180 Second Ave.

Australian filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz investigates the reasons why her Polish mother abandoned her in an orphanage as a child and uncovers the truth behind her mother’s wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, leaving Sophia to confront her own capacity for forgiveness.

When Australian filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz was seven years old, her Polish mother, Helen, abandoned her in an Adelaide orphanage. Sophia never forgot this maternal act of betrayal. Now in middle age, as Sophia examines her troubled relationship with Helen, she discovers the story behind Helen’s miraculous wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, her subsequent survival against the odds and the truth about an historic betrayal involving Stalin and the Allies. With Helen sliding into dementia, Sophia must confront her own demons. Did she ever truly know this woman who became her mother? Does she have it in her heart to forgive her? And is it too late?

"An epic story of survival told against a backdrop of war and its aftermath. With consummate skill, Sophia Turkiewicz weaves the personal with the historical, giving depth and meaning to both." - Peter Weir

"Once My Mother" received many awards, such as:

Audience Award – Krakow Film Festival
Best Feature Documentary - Australian Directors Guild Awards
Audience Award Best Documentary - Adelaide Film Festival
Best Of The Fest – The only documentary among five films
Audience Award Best Film - Canberra Film Festival
Selected for Tasmania Action Day Screening , BOFA Film Festival
Best Documentary Biography - ATOM Awards
Best Feature Documentary & Best Sound Nominations, AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts)

Film will be shown in English. The screening will be followed by Q&A session with our guests Ms. Sophia Turkiewicz and Mr. Rod Freedman.

The event is free of charge and open to the public.

More information about the movie: trailer, website, facebook.
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (212) 505-9077

PARTNERZY
Ministerstwo Kultury
Biblioteka Narodowa
Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych
Konsulat RP w NY
Fundacja na rzecz Dziedzictwa Narodowego
PSFCU
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs