Sunday Showcase/Mother’s Day

A Photographic Memory
Directed by Rachel Elizabeth Seed

Free, tickets distributed from the Speed Cinema box office kiosk starting at 12 PM. Includes a post-screening discussion with director Rachel Elizabeth Seed in person.

“Seed’s elusive film is a haunting portrait—nimble in execution and startling in its poignancy—that introduces her mother to a new generation.”—Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

Filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed was only 18 months old when her mother, renowned journalist Sheila Turner Seed—an ambitious Jewish intellectual well ahead of her time–unexpectedly passed away. Driven by a desire to uncover what her mother left behind; Seed embarks on a journey to meet with people whose lives were touched by her.

Using audio and photographic archives from her mother’s career, A Photographic Memory is an investigation into the archive in search of remnants of a loved one, reconstructing their image to get to know them.

Sheila’s intimate interviews with famous photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Lisette Model and Bruce Davidson, among others, are brought to life via Rachel’s recreations, further immersing us into Sheila’s world as mother and daughter’s worlds merge in unexpected ways.

2024, U.S., DCP, 87 minutes.
Recommended for 14+.

This program has been made possible through generous support from The Stuart A. Handmaker L’Dor VaDor Fund. Special thanks to Hazzan David Lipp, Congregation Adath Jeshurun, for his programming assistance.