The Unfixing

synopsis

A lyrical tapestry of life and landscape, The Unfixing reveals one mother’s path from illness to healing and from climate despair to environmental awakening. American filmmaker Nicole Betancourt fell ill in 2014. For a long time, she did not know the cause of the disease affecting her body and mind. But she could not devote herself properly to her work or raising two children. The stress, uncertainty and isolation made her stop and reflect. She began to perceive the health problems of herself and her loved ones in the context of the destruction of the entire planet. Her journey to the roots of personal and global grief takes the form of a layered collage in which themes and visual styles alternate cyclically. Through an intimate diary, animation, archival family films or interviews with doctors, indigenous teachers, and systems thinkers she looks for parallels between her own life and the landscape and finds hope at the intersection of both.

“I hope that this film offers another way to face the sickness in our bodies and the earth, a path of allowing, listening, receiving – all things I thought were passive. Now I know they are active, courageous, and acts of rebellion.” — Nicole Betancourt

Source: The Unfixing

biography

Nicole Betancourt’s work is driven by an exploration of images and stories of the complex interconnections of people to each other and to nature. She does this through documentaries, video art, and community building projects. In addition to many short educational and viral videos, she made the Emmy award-winning documentary Before You Go (HBO/1996), about her father who died of AIDS. She also received several awards for the film 90 Miles (2001), in which she participated as a producer and camerawoman.

more about film

director:	Nicole Betancourt
producer:	Rose Kowalski, Nicole Betancourt
script:	Nicole Betancourt
music:	Bray Poor
sound design:	Bray Poor
executive producer:	Rose Kowalski
associate producer:	Fernanda Rossi
Consultant:	Cynthia Kane, Sheila Nevins, Jeanne Betancourt, Bray Poor

contact

Rose Kowalski / Horizontal Films
rose@horizontalfilms.net