JIFF: A Photographic Memory

The Story

Australian Premiere 

“One of the best docs of the year.” - RogerEbert.com  

“A sumptuous piece of nonfiction…[an] ingenious, meta doc” - Variety 

How well can we know someone through the things they leave behind? Rachel Elizabeth Seed was only 18 months old when her mother, renowned journalist Sheila Turner-Seed, passed away. Thirty years later, after she discovers more than 50 hours of audio interviews conducted by her mother, Seed hears her mother’s voice for the first time.

Through a wealth of audio recordings, photographs and films, the filmmaker sets out to connect with her late mother while at the same time unveiling an invaluable archive of conversations with some of the most renowned photographers of the 20th century, among them Cornell Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, W. Eugene Smith and Roman Vishniac.

Screening to critical acclaim around the world and already on Oscar® shortlists, A Photographic Memory is a loving and elegantly crafted story of a daughter seeking to connect with her lost mother and of the legacy and art of photography, and of mortality, loss and memory.

Festivals and Awards
Official Selection - Hot Docs 2024

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Duration

87 min

Cast

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Cecil Beaton, Bruce Davidson, Lisette Model, Cornell Capa, Brian Lanker, William Albert Allard, Eliot Porter, Brian Seed, Sheila Turner Seed, Dick Robinson, Lael Morgan

Director

Rachel Elizabeth Seed