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	Motherhood Shmotherhood PRICE: 20.00
Motherhood Shmotherhood Description
“Motherhood Shmotherhood” is a one hour documentary about Jewish women deciding whether, and when, to have children, and the intense pressures they face. At thirty-one years of age, happily married and settled in her bright city apartment, Michal Finegold seems to have it all – the love of her life and an exciting creative career. Yet an eerie recurring nightmare of horrifying tragedy haunts her. Jolting awake, she wonders, what was that tiny, amorphous creature she held in her dream? Deep down she knows the answer: “A baby,” she thinks. “My baby.” Waiting for her to conceive it, to love it, to screw it all up. Waiting to ruin her life. Michal finds herself paralyzed with indecision about the prospect of motherhood. She dreads a life sentence of anxious, frazzled parenthood, yet is equally afraid to miss out on the experience of a lifetime. The extreme pressure to be a mother, to want it, and to be good at it, makes it impossible for Michal and many women like her to make a truly free and informed choice. Determined to face her demons, Michal sets out to find answers in a colorful animated world that merges reality with imagination. From the warm glow of holiday gatherings through the fluorescent-lit corridors of fertility clinics, Michal explores the array of pressures society places on women to have children, particularly in Jewish culture. This documentary film offers a unique look at these issues, which need to be brought to light and openly discussed. “I think having kids is suicidal,” says Inbal, one interviewee. “And the pressure from the family… and from my friends who all of them have babies by now… it deprives me of the freedom of choice.” Inbal is not alone. Having a child as a result of social pressure, or fear that time is running out, is likely to lead to depression and unhappiness for everyone involved. Through honest dialogue without shame, this film will help viewers both within Jewish culture and outside of it to understand and manage their anxieties about parenthood, move beyond social norms and make an informed decision that is right for them. It will also help parents who have regrets about their decision break free of the guilt and shame that surrounds such feelings, and deal with their situation in a more positive way. Finally, the film will help negate the strong prejudice in our society against people who are child-free by choice, presenting the issue as a complex one that can have more than one “natural” solution. The film utilizes colorful, painterly animation combined with photographs and treated live action – an animated collage of sorts – to evoke the surreal quality of imagination. Interviews with real people appear to take place within animated environments, and animated vignettes illustrate stories recalled by interview subjects and humorous mental commentary by the filmmaker. www.shmotherhood.com
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