All change starts with a story.
SYNOPSIS
After a surfing accident triggers inexplicable symptoms that leave her unable to work or parent her children, she embarks on a quest of self-discovery. Guided by dreams, nature, and wisdom from others, Nicole weaves an immersive diary of destruction, trauma, love, and renewal. Her journey transforms grief into a new story, one that sees loss as an opportunity to forge a future of resilience and togetherness.
Director Statement
We are living in a time of transition, a liminal space. So many young people are anxious and in despair, and why wouldn't they be? They are growing up with looming pandemics and climate disasters. As my child Blue said at the age of 12, “I don't really have hope that the world's going to turn around.” But if we don’t believe things can get better, who will?
Stories change our chemistry, the wiring of our brains, and our health. But our stories about nature aren't just changing us, they are changing the landscape. Social and political change starts with how we change the narrative. We can co-create change in alignment with nature. What emerges from that might surprise us. 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.
Supporter Statement
"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
3x Emmy Award-Winning Director
Rockefeller, Guggenheim and Jerome Foundation Fellow
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director/Producer Nicole Betancourt
Nicole was the Producer, Director, Writer, and Camera for the HBO documentary feature film “Before You Go” (Emmy Award/Golden Spire Award) She was Producer and Camera for the POV feature film “90 MILES” (Best Documentary at New York Latino International Film Festival and Festival de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano in Cuba).
She has created many short videos for distribution online or for community screenings including the following: “Healing Rebel” about neuroplasticity; “Sing the Water Song,” (in collaboration with Native American grandmothers); shorts on farming in Central America; 70 films about food for parents; music videos to motivate Latinos to vote; short video series for HuffPost and The Weather Channel.
Nicole was granted a Food and Community Fellowship (W.K. Kellogg Foundation) and a Sustainability Leaders Network Fellowship. As Executive Director of MediaRights, a nonprofit organization dedicated to media for social change, she produced an award-winning film festival and the first online outreach toolkit for filmmakers. She has served on many juries/panels including the Emmy awards.
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Women Make Movies (WMM), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization registered with the New York Charities Bureau of New York State and accepts charitable donations on behalf of this project. Your donation will be spent by the filmmaker(s) toward the production and completion of this media project. No services or goods are provided by Women Make Movies, the filmmaker(s) or anyone else associated with this project in exchange for your charitable donation.
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