AT THE FEET OF MY MOTHER

Growing up as a parent to your parents leaves deep marks on the soul. During one family constellation therapy, Lucien is finally coming to terms with his unsafe childhood. It is an emotional journey through long-supressed anger, fear and sorrow, to finally showing himself to the world.

VINCENT SPARREBOOM

Documentary director and cinematographer based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. After graduating cum laude in cultural anthropology at the University of Amsterdam, he went on to study film at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. In his first year he directed and shot Mama Mania, a short documentary about his bipolar mother who gets caught up in a dating scam. In the film we see how the director takes on the role of protective parent over his own mother, revealing the reversed roles that have developed over the years. The film premiered at Go Short and DOK Leipzig and screened at over 30 international film festivals. In his graduation film, At the feet of my mother, Vincent developes the theme of parentification (reversed parent-child relationships) further, taking the therapeutic form of family constellations as a vehicle to make the psychological dynamics of this childhood trauma visible. In all his work, deep personal engagement and fundamental human challenges are at the core of the cinematic narrative.

Using the therapeutic form of family constellations, At the feet of my mother explores the psychological dynamics of parentification - the little known but widespread phenomenon of parent-child role reversal. Vincent has made this film from his own experience of parentification, taking care of his mother from a young age. This is also what his previous film Mama Mania was about. With At the feet of my mother he has made the connection to other people who experienced similar trauma growing up. In the process of making this film, the group became a self-support community, benefitting all those involved.

• Netherlands Film Festival, The Netherlands
• Go Short International Short Film Festival Nijmegen, The Netherlands
• Busan International Short Film Festival, South Korea
• Ethnocineca International Documentary Film Festival Vienna, Austria
• Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, Scotland

Doker 2022 — Dok Therapy