logline
Sixty years after her mother’s adoption, Delaney and her family travel to Thailand to seek the culture they belong to but have never known. Their trip takes a turn when they’re unexpectedly reunited with their biological family, changing their lives forever.
Synopsis
In 1964, my mom was adopted from rural Thailand by Lutheran missionaries and raised in Wisconsin, never knowing her birth family or considering a return to her homeland. For years, her adoption story was a quiet backdrop to our lives—until I began asking deeper questions in college, using documentary filmmaking to explore identity, loss, and belonging. In 2024, after the passing of her adoptive parents and gentle pressure from my sisters and me, my mom agrees to visit Thailand—not to find family, but to understand her cultural roots. Yet a week into our journey, one document leads to another, and we meet her biological sister for the first time. What begins as a miracle reunion soon becomes an emotional reckoning: unanswered questions, shared grief, and healing across language barriers. Months later, we return for the burial of my grandmother, whose ashes were kept, seemingly waiting for my mom’s return. Through tears, laughter, and faith, our family expands across continents—and this film becomes a testament to processing, discovery, and connection beyond words.
Ipseity (2021)
Ipseity delves into the transracial adoption of the filmmaker’s mother from Thailand. It is a collage of perspectives of the adoptive mother, the adoptee, and her three daughters. It now serves as a proof of concept for Mother’s Motherland which will expand upon these narratives into real-time as the family prepares for an inaugural visit to Thailand in February 2024.
Mother’s Motherland is a dedication to unraveling the complexities of identity and heritage. By documenting the experiences on the trip, the hope is to show the emotional nuances, struggles, and moments of discovery as the family experiences a land where their only connection is biological.
Support
Mother’s Motherland was granted production support by Milwaukee Film’s Forward Fund.