Rachel Elizabeth Seed was only 18 months old when her journalist/photographer mother passed away. Thanks to a trove of archival material, though, she was able to reconstruct her life piece by piece and discover the mother she never quite knew in this Film Independent Spirit Award-nominated doc.

Sheila Turner-Seed—a daring, world-traveling journalist ahead of her time—died suddenly of a brain aneurysm when her daughter Rachel Elizabeth Seed was just 18 months old. Thirty years later, photographer Rachel discovers her mother’s work—more than 50 hours of interviews with some of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, W. Eugene Smith, Roman Vishniac, Cornell Capa, and Bruce Davidson—hearing her mother’s voice for the first time since she was a baby. Moved to uncover more of what she left behind, Rachel sets out to revisit her mom’s subjects, family, and friends, revisiting the photographers she interviewed decades before. As she discovers the shocking secrets, which may have led to her mother’s untimely death, Rachel’s ability to forge her own path hinges on how these revelations affect her own life. As new truths emerge, Rachel builds an unlikely relationship with her mother, exploring the question of whether it is possible to get to know someone through the things they leave behind.

To learn more about the film, visit https://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/a-photographic-memory-2025