When Australian filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz was seven years old, her Polish mother, Helen, abandoned her in an Adelaide orphanage. Sophia never forgot this maternal act of betrayal. Now in middle age, as Sophia examines her troubled relationship with Helen, she discovers the story behind Helen's miraculous wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, her subsequent survival against the odds and the truth about an historic betrayal involving Stalin and the Allies. With Helen sliding ... (Full plot summary below)
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When Australian filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz was seven years old, her Polish mother, Helen, abandoned her in an Adelaide orphanage. Sophia never forgot this maternal act of betrayal. Now in middle age, as Sophia examines her troubled relationship with Helen, she discovers the story behind Helen's miraculous wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, her subsequent survival against the odds and the truth about an historic betrayal involving Stalin and the Allies. With Helen sliding into dementia, Sophia must confront her own demons. Did she ever truly know this woman who became her mother? Does she have it in her heart to forgive her? And is it too late?
Leave your thoughts about Once My Mother.
| The AustralianEvan WilliamsTurkiewicz has made an intimate, deeply personal film. Nowhere is the film more moving than in scenes of mother and daughter together -- the caring and ever-anxious Sophia, the frail and barely coherent old lady. |
| At the Movies (Australia)Judith LucyThere is a lot about this documentary that I liked. |
| The Age (Australia)Philippa HawkerIt's quietly moving, thoughtful and loving. |
| ABC Radio (Australia)CJ JohnsonJust when the film feels too much like a home movie, it shows us the world. |
| 3AWJim SchembriBeautiful, honest, personal documentary about the troubled relationship between filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz (Silver City) and her late mother. |
| User ReviewAdam KFine documentary by Sophia Turkiewicz exploring her relationship with her Polish mother who survived life as a homeless orphan, the horrors of war and a Soviet Gulag and eventually settled in Adelaide after 6 years in Southern Africa as a refugee. Recommended! |
