A Photographic Memory

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A Photographic Memory

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1h 27m

Documentary

Biography

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18 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

A daughter attempts to piece together a portrait of her mother, an avant-garde journalist and a woman she never knew. Uncovering the vast archive Sheila Turner-Seed produced, including lost interviews with iconic photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, and Lisette Model, the film explores memory, legacy and stories left untold.

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Kat Sachs

Chicago Reader

It attempts to close the gap between the filmmaker and her mother and, in the process, does so between the viewers and her mother, an artist gone before her time.

Jun 29, 2025

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

This poetic gem is a journey from the weight of absence to the serenity of presence, thanks in no small part to the inquisitive, gifted woman pulled from obscurity: Sheila Turner-Seed, whose life was short but full and worth revitalizing.

Jun 23, 2025

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Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

Without playing with anyone’s life, “A Photographic Memory” makes beautiful sense of the connections between mother and daughter, work and love and other mysteries.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 23, 2025

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Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

Although it might seem familiar in concept, this documentary about artistic legacies and family bonds is quietly powerful on multiple levels.

Jun 20, 2025

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Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

Rachel Seed might not have been the ideal candidate to make this movie, but it’s clear she needed to do it more than any outside creative might have...

Rated: 3/4

Jun 20, 2025

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Rob Thomas

Not That Rob Thomas (Substack)

“A Photographic Memory” is an achingly personal film about Rachel’s attempts to stitch together a new kind of memory from those archival materials, to not just understand a woman she never knew but to somehow feel her mother’s presence within her.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 18, 2025

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Srini V

Great to see an independent filmmaker persisting with an important project about her mother for 13 years. The editing makes the movie a great story, aspects of which we can all relate to.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/29/25

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Laird K

A wonderful personal memoir of a woman's search for the mother who died when she was an infant. The mother and daughter were/are both professional photographers and film makers and the story takes advantage of the fact that everyone in the family captured life on film or audio, including a series of interviews the mother did with the greatest photographers of the second half of the 20th century. A wonderful story, beautifully produced.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/29/25

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Rachel Elizabeth Seed

Director

Rachel Elizabeth Seed

Self

Rachel Elizabeth Seed

Producer

Danielle Varga

Producer

Matthew Perniciaro

Producer

Michael Sherman

Producer

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A Photographic Memory: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

A daughter attempts to piece together a portrait of her mother, an avant-garde journalist and a woman she never knew. Uncovering the vast archive Sheila Turner-Seed produced, including lost interviews with iconic photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, and Lisette Model, the film explores memory, legacy and stories left untold.

Director: Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Producer: Rachel Elizabeth Seed, Danielle Varga, Matthew Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films
Production Co: Bow and Arrow Entertainment, CapaRiva Films
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 12, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 26, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA): $15.9K
Runtime: 1h 27m