The Unfixing
United States, Spain | 2024 | 87 minutes | Order No. W251315
A mother faces overwhelming challenges of personal and global loss as her children inherit a world plagued by environmental crises. Her journey transforms grief into a new story, one that sees loss as an opportunity to forge a future of resilience and togetherness.
SYNOPSIS
Nicole faces the overwhelming challenges of personal and global loss as her children inherit a world plagued by environmental crises. Her older child, Pilar, becomes gravely ill with chronic Lyme disease, a condition exacerbated by climate change. As Pilar struggles with paralysis and an inability to attend school, Nicole’s survival strategy of resilience—built on her own experience of loss—begins to unravel. Faced with mounting grief, Nicole spirals into despair, questioning her will to continue.
A vision of her late father, who died of AIDS when it was poorly understood, sparks a turning point. His peace inspires Nicole to confront the heartbreak surrounding her—polluted oceans, burning forests, dying species, and her family’s health struggles.
With restored spirit, Nicole manages to hike to an alpine lake, where a moment of connection with wild Gray Jays fills her with awe and renewal. Accepting that she is just a small part of the planet that created her, Nicole finds the strength to embrace possibility and hope. Her sorrow transforms to a fresh narrative, one that sees loss as an opportunity to forge a future of resilience and togetherness.
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- Audience Award Best Feature 2nd Vermont Film & Folklore Festival, 2025
- North American Premiere 35th Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival, San Jose 2025
- Our Fragile Moment Art Exhibit and The Unfixing Workshop, 2025
- Millenium Film Festival, 2025
- Belgrade Documentary Film Festival DOK#7, 2025
- World Premiere 28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, 2024
- NYC Community Gardens, Interactive Video/Sound Events, 2021, 2022
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Nicole Betancourt is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker celebrated for her ability to merge the personal and the political in emotionally impactful stories. Her debut documentary, BEFORE YOU GO (HBO), about her father’s death from AIDS, garnered multiple awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Documentary and a Golden Spire at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Betancourt has continued to work at the intersection of social issues and personal stories, producing and directing films such as 90 MILES (POV/PBS), SING THE WATER SONG, and shorts that highlight environmental and social justice issues. She is also the former Executive Director of MediaRights, a nonprofit organization dedicated to media for social change, where she produced the award-winning Media That Matters Film Festival and the first online outreach toolkit for filmmakers. She is a Sustainability Leaders Network Fellow, a Kellogg Food and Community Fellow, and served on the Emmy awards jury, New York State Council of the Arts panel, and the New York Women in Film & Television board.
Writer-Director : Nicole Betancourt
Composer : Bray Poor
Producer : Rose Kowalski, Nicole Betancourt
Consulting Producers : Jeanne Betancourt, Cynthia Kane, Sheila Nevins, Brad Poor
Directors of Photography: Anna Molins, Andrew DeNatale, Braulio Jatar, Nicole Betancourt
Editor: Nicole Betancourt
Sound Designer : Bray Poor
Color Grader : Cristóbal Bolaños
Re-recording Mixer : Dani Zacarias
On-camera Experts (in order of appearance):
Doña Enriqueta Contreras
Grandmother Margaret Behan
Grandmother Nancy Andry
Adrienne Maree Brown
Press:
"Wholly original cinema that people hope to see at a film festival... [The Unfixing is] an art film inside a memoir." - The Movie Gourmet, Best of Cinequest
"An absolutely remarkable film and it is so artistically told. This is ultimately a film that is so full of hope." - Robert Emmet, Thoughtline KFJC Radio
"The Unfixing is gorgeous, incredibly deep and wide, and truthful. Its prescription has good results in one swallow” Sheila Nevins, Producer (11 Oscars, 31 Emmys, & 42 Peabodys)
“The Unfixing is completely stunning and powerful, making us think and contemplate connections between things that people don't usually make, and the film is groundbreaking in that way. It is visceral, relatable, mystical, and spiritual." Alan Berliner, Emmy Award winner & Guggenheim Fellow
Women in Entertainment interviews Nicole: “What key takeaways do you hope audiences will have after watching The Unfixing?”
NB “… contrary to what we are taught, connection with grief can be a great source of joy and resilience. Expressing grief inherently reinforces the belief that we can change, we can heal... With focus and time, this dream can grow into a reality like a great oak tree.”
WIE: “Are there any lessons from The Unfixing that you’ve personally applied to your life?”
NB “That all change starts with a story. We will not heal our world without first imagining it healed.”
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