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Happy Mother's Day
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Happy Mother's Day
IDFA 1997

Happy Mother's Day

Richard Leacock
1963
30 min
Festival history

In 1963 Mrs. Fischer gave birth to a healthy quintuplet. The news spread fast from Aberdeen across the world. Despite the solemn speeches that mentioned the protection of the Fischer family, plans were soon made to organise press conferences, banquets and parades. From far and near the family received gifts: from baby food and a dishwasher to hundreds of tiny shoes. Throngs of journalists and photographers flocked around the Fischer premises to capture the children. Director Leacock and his assistant Joyce Chopra were in Aberdeen, too. They tried to film the half-paralysed reactions of the parents, the press hounds and members of the souvenir industry as inconspicuously as possible. reveals the feverish microcosm of entrepreneurship. In the midst of all the hubbub Mrs. Fischer quietly suffers. Her terse remarks make her an unforgettable character.

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