Slamdance Film Festival 2010

My Mother’s Garden details one woman’s battle with a hoarding disorder which infiltrated her life so thoroughly that her three children were gradually pushed out of their house by an ever-growing mountain of debris. Born in Poland in 1944 and raised in an austere communist society by an Auschwitz survivor, she moved to the consumer driven disposable society of America in 1974 and was overwhelmed by a culture of excess. In this gripping documentary, Eugenia’s children come together for the first time in years to confront their mother’s illness, dig out their family home, and regain a sense of family. My Mother’s Garden documents the difficulties that low income and immigrant families face when trying to get by in the United States and is a plea to our beleaguered health care industry to recognize hoarding as a legitimate mental disorder which requires serious treatment and affects over two million Americans.

"Trust me, from one valley girl about another. Cynthia Lester has captured a watershed on camera. She brings the world into an extremely personal, intimate family moment, opening up her life to the audience with a compassion and patience that speaks volumes. An incredibly moving documentary about the love and perseverance of the Lester family.”

- Sarah Diamond, Programmer

Slamdance 2008 Documentary Competition Presented by Langley Productions