This Is a Film About My Mother

Eve, a flailing 30 year old, still lives in her small hometown of Ithaca, New York. She is struggling to find inspiration, something that always seemed to come easily to her mother, an award-winning children's book author and illustrator. She sets out to unlock the same uninhibited creativity through a self-reflexive documentary. This proves harder than anticipated, so though they've been distant since their mother's passing, she calls her little brother Max for help. Max, already a working actor, reluctantly agrees to spend his weekend helping Eve with her film. Max is uncomfortable back in their childhood home. The siblings go to film at Ithaca Falls, the site of their mother's most famous book, "Max and the Whispering Waterfall." A towering gorge, the icy falls are at once magical and threatening. Eve asks Max to recreate scenes from the book, pushing him to play like when they were kids. Max becomes frustrated. They fight. Eve falls and hurts herself. Later that night Eve tries to remedy the situation by cooking one of their mother's recipes. Limping around the kitchen in a feverish haste, she accidentally ruins the dish. Max finds a distraught Eve and insists she stop and go take care of herself. He makes dinner for his sister and the two share a meal by a bonfire in the backyard.