Private Story
SAUDADE v1
A filmmaker ferries us along a self-reflexive search for her biological roots, weaving a cinematic dreamscape of intimate, lyrical storytelling. After a lifetime of separation, her birth parents are reunited across oceans by the infant they surrendered. A Pandora’s box is unearthed, paradoxically provoking the estrangement of her adoptive family, deeper uncertainty, and saudades.
In the decades preceding Roe v. Wade, the middle-American veil of secrecy fashioned to enshroud a birth mother's shame forced women into homes for unwed mothers, coercing them into giving their unborn babies up for adoption and unlawfully sealing their identities. Saudade incises those seals, exposing lifetimes of secrecy and wounding to allow for regeneration.
SAUDADE: Name of the Father | 90 min Documentary Feature Film, Produced and Directed by Theresa Ortolani
2019 IDA-DCTV Docuclub WIP Screening 10/21/19
2016 PDN Photo Annual Multimedia Grant Winner (6min short)
2015 Visura Multimedia Grant 1st place finalist (6min short)
2015 IPA Honored in 8 categories: (Portrait, Culture, Photo Essay, Deeper Perspective, Moving Image)
2015 New York Photo Festival Winner (Documentary Portraiture)
2015 Seoul International Photo Festival Winner (Documentary Portraiture)
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