All of Me: Artists+Mothers, 2019
My creative interests have been amplified by becoming a mother and my world is so much richer thanks to my eleven-year-old son, Alex. However it has been challenging to factor in the logistics, since parenting is rendered invisible - in the arts, in academia and the culture at large. In the summer of 2019, I attended my first family-friendly residency to create a collaborative project with Alex and begin a documentary around the challenges of career-keeping and the invisibility of motherhood. The film was produced at the first family-friendly Artist Residency at Elsewhere Studios in Paonia (CO) with the support of the Sustainable Arts Foundation. This project was aired by Colorado Public Radio and that article can be found here.
All of Me: Artists+Mothers, 2019
[digital//color//16:9//stereo//07:40//english]. Directed by María Velasco. Produced and Edited by María Velasco and Bryce Heesacker.
The film features three women whose divergent life circumstances have led them to negotiate their role as mothers and artists very differently. Battling impostor syndrome, juggling the stigma of single parenting, refusing traditional child-rearing roles in a markedly patriarchal world are some of the experiences they share in common, besides arriving at the tiny town of Paonia to spend a few weeks at Elsewhere Studios to make new works of art. The film has been an Official Selection at the international Screen Power Film Festival 2020 in London, U.K; the Women in Film and Television (WIFTA) in Atlanta, GA, where it won Best Female Representation Award and the Female Filmmakers Fuse Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA. For a full Press Kit, click here.
CREDITS
DIRECTOR: MARIA VELASCO
PRODUCERS & EDITORS: MARIA VELASCO and BRYCE HEESACKER
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: BRYCE HEESACKER and MAGGIE VAUGHN
COMPOSER & AUDIO ENGINEER: BRYCE HEESACKER
CAST (in order appearance):
UKHONA NTSALI MLANDU
BRIGID McAULIFFE
SEBASTIAN MERRILL-McAULIFFE
MARIA VELASCO
ALEX VELASCO-CRATES
Filming location: Elsewhere Studios, Paonia, Colorado. Special thanks to Carolina Porras, Henry Kunkel, and Tomatoes The Cat for their assistance and accommodation during the production of this film during the month of July 2019.
Elsewhere Studios, Paonia, CO
Open Studios, Family Residency
Paonia Card Game in collaboration with Alex (in progress)
Elsewhere Kids
Kung-Food Masters by Elsewhere Kids [1:05 min//color//sound].
Young Ratón has embarked on a journey to learn the arts of Kung-Food but can't obtain it without the mentorship of Mountain, the porcupine master. Together they must face challenges to overcome the notorious threat of the Food Ruiner. Follow them on this summer adventure. Edited, written and performed by Emery Kaczmarek Johnson, Adrian Kaczmarek Johnson, and Alex Velasco-Crates with assistance from Ian Johnson.
