Filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed was only 18 months old when her mother, renowned journalist Sheila Turner Seed, unexpectedly passed away. Driven by a desire to uncover what she left behind, Seed embarks on a journey to meet with people whose lives were touched by her mother. Using audio and photographic archives from her mother’s career, A Photographic Memory is an investigation into the archive in search of remnants of a loved one, reconstructing their image in an attempt to get to know them. Sheila’s intimate interviews with famous photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Lisette Model and Bruce Davidson, among others, are brought to life via Rachel’s reimaginings, further immersing us into Sheila’s world as mother and daughter’s worlds merge in unexpected ways.
USA 2024, '87
DIRECTOR: Rachel Elizabeth Seed
SCENARIO: Rachel Elizabeth Seed
CAMERA: Joseph Michael Lopez, Rachel Elizabeth Seed
MONTAGE: Christopher Stoudt, Eileen Meyer, Tyler Hubby, Will Garafolo
MUSIC: Mary Lattimore
PRODUCERS: Rachel Elizabeth Seed, Sigrid Dyekjær, Beth Levison, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga
FESTIVALS & AWARDS:
Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction Award (2025)
Chicago IFF: Chicago Award (2024 )
Hot Docs (2024)
True/False FF (2024)
Maryland FF (2024)
DOC NYC (2024)
Full Frame DFF (2024)
Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Originally from London, Rachel Elizabeth Seed is a Los Angeles and Brooklyn-based nonfiction storyteller working in film, photography and writing. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Chicken + Egg Pictures, NYFA, Field of Vision, the Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, the Maine Media Workshops, the Roy W. Dean grant, the Jewish Film Institute, Jewish Story Partners, and IFP/Gotham Labs, among others. Formerly a photo editor at New York Magazine, her photography has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography and she was a cameraperson on several award-winning feature documentaries including SACRED by Academy-Award winning filmmaker Thomas Lennon. Rachel’s writing has been published by No Film School, the Sundance Institute, and Talkhouse and she is co-founder of the Brooklyn Documentary Club, a thriving film collective with more than 300 members.
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