“Eerily soul-stirring […] One of the best docs I've seen this year […] In a lesser director’s hands, A Photographic Memory could easily slip into being navel-gazing. But under the capable Seed’s watch, culminating in an eerily soul-stirring final grace note, the swift film finds an intuitive equilibrium between the impulse to hold on and the desire to grasp the past in the hopes of reaching the future.”
— Robert Daniels,
“Through Turner Seed’s extensive archive of interviews with some of the most iconic photographers of the 20th century, from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Gordon Parks, Seed pieces together an image of her sharp, vibrant mother, forming a retroactive understanding of someone who’s no longer alive.”
— Susannah Gruder,
“Uses archived photos, interviews and journal entries to masterfully weave together the works of her mother’s life and her own.”
— Sarah Woods,
“The bigger joy of the film […] is seeing Seed connect with her mom. This is a journey too many people never get to take. Watching Seed get to know her mom made me smile.”
— Steve Kopian,
“The final shot is about as breathtakingly perfect a capper as it gets.”
— Katie Carter,
“I couldn't help falling for Seed’s fascinating examination of her journey of discovery.”
— tt stern-enzi,
ABOUT THE FILM
LOGLINE
A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY is an intimate, genre-bending portrait of a daughter’s attempt to piece together a portrait of her mother, an avant-garde journalist and a woman she never knew. Uncovering the vast archive Sheila Turner Seed produced, including lost interviews with iconic photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Cecil Beaton, Bruce Davidson, Lisette Model, and others, the film explores memory, legacy, and stories left untold.
LONG SYNOPSIS
Thirty years after her mother’s death, photographer Rachel Elizabeth Seed discovers her mother’s work—more than 50 hours of interviews with the greatest photographers of the 20th Century, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, W. Eugene Smith, Roman Vishniac, Cornell Capa, and Bruce Davidson.
Sheila Turner-Seed, a daring, world-traveling journalist ahead of her time, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm when Rachel was just 18 months old. When Rachel threads in the audio reels and presses play, she hears her mother’s voice for the first time since she was a baby.
Moved to uncover more of what she left behind, Rachel sets out to revisit her mom’s subjects, family and friends, revisiting the photographers she interviewed decades before. As new truths emerge, Rachel builds an unlikely relationship with her mother through the audio recordings, photographs, and films her mother made during her brief life, crafting an imagined conversation through the cinematic medium.
As she discovers the shocking secrets which may have led to her mother’s untimely death, Rachel’s ability to forge her own path hinges on how these revelations affect her own life. The film draws from footage of Rachel’s visits to the photographers her mother interviewed, Sheila’s award-winning audio-visual work, Super 8 family films, still photography, audio letters and journals, weaving together personal and photohistorical media to tell a universal story—about facing mortality and loss, the construction of memory and the restoration of a legacy.
Along this path, Rachel explores the question of whether it is possible to get to know someone through the things they leave behind.
Writer & Director Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Producers Rachel Elizabeth Seed, Sigrid Dyekjær, Beth Levison, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga
Executive Producers Kirsten Johnson, Maida Lynn, Hinda Gilbert, Robina Riccitiello
Consulting Producer Judith Helfand
Editors Eileen Meyer, Tyler Hubby, Christopher Stoudt
Directors of Photography Joseph Michael Lopez, Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Sound Design Rune Klausen, Peter Albrechtsen
Supervising Editor Maya Daisy Hawke
Original Score Mary Lattimore
FESTIVALS
2024: True/False (World Premiere, Closing Night), 2024: Hot Docs (International Premiere)
AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World
EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download
PRESS KIT
Download Press Kit
AVAILABLE PRESS IMAGES (click to preview)
