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Synopsis
16mm B&W, 16 minutes, 2001.
A mother's strange habit. A grandmother's silence. A daugther's unheard cry... All witnessed through the eyes of a daughter yet unborn, MOTHER'S BLOOD is the story of a young Chinese American woman struggling to break the bonds of her family's emotional legacy before they break her.
Directors' Statement
I wrote MOTHER'S BLOOD in quick response to the invitation of my co-director
Tom Dybek's friend Chris Nunnally who generously offered to provide free
video equipment for a work under 15 minutes. However, once I wrote the piece,
both Tom and I felt on a visceral level that it should be a black & white
film. Oddly enough, although neither of us had ever shot a film before, the
prospect was not daunting; approaching my mother and sisters - on whom the
film is freely based - was! Thankfully, my sisters were supportive.
Astonishingly enough, my mother was too! And she has since viewed the film
at its various stages and given judicious feedback like a true pro.
Regarding production, I had the invaluable guidance of more seasoned
filmmakers such as William Watkins and others named in my credits. In my
cinematographer Todd Liebler, I found someone not only whose skill was
evident but who also had the enthusiasm and spirit of collaboration that I
sought. I can say the same for all the actors, my wonderful editor Josh
Litwhiler, sound editor Danny Pagan and production manager Aaron Ng.
Undoubtedly, the success of the project's realization lay in the energy and
commitment of the team. In paraphrasing a quote by Goethe on the power of
commitment, my co-director Tom Dybek put it succinctly: "Once we committed to
the project, we were aided in so many unforseen ways by so many people that
it became an object lesson in the relationship between one's commitment and
the generous support of others."
As for exploring one's family in one's creative work, whenever I do, there
has always been the reward of catharsis. In my family, it has been my
tendency to pugnaciously drag the skeletons out of the closets, bring to the
open the supposed "embarassments" in my effort to understand and heal. I
hope that the film summons up in the viewer aspects of his own journey
towards self-revelation and healing.
Myra Sito Velasquez
It was all already there in Myra's script, which had the coiled energy of
poetry. So, our
job on the set was less about the invention of form than it wa about
re-discovering the story, images and feeling present in the text, and to
connect to it personally and to facilitate our collaborators’ connection.
The adventure was to weave a whole cloth out of the threads of dream, memory
and present tense action, resembling the kind of
fabric that we are continually weaving in our interior lives. The extent to
which this succeeds is a tribute to the imagination and heartfelt commitment
of the actors, technicians, crew and all who generously gave of themselves to
make this film.
Tom Dybek
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