Motherboard

At the age of 38, Victoria Mapplebeck found herself single, pregnant and broke. Unable to combine motherhood with freelance directing, she was forced to abandon her career in TV, instead turning the camera on herself and her son, Jim.

Filmed over 20 years, Victoria has recorded hundreds of hours of footage, capturing each twist and turn in Jim’s life, from the thumbs-up he gave her during her first pregnancy scan to his first day at college.

MOTHERBOARD is a unique self-portrait charting the real-life comedy and roller coaster of solo parenting. Victoria captures a life where both she and Jim survive her breast cancer diagnosis, two generations of absent fathers and Jim’s rollercoaster teen years with a gallows sense of humour and an irrepressible ability to turn lemons into lemonade.

The film navigates the trials and traumas of unromanticized parenting, where chaos rules. We’re privy to the monumental bust ups when tempers fray and doors slam, as well as the pair’s closeness and camaraderie as Jim turns into a fiercely opinionated and funny young adult who suddenly towers over his mum.

Honest, funny and infinitely relatable, MOTHERBOARD is the antidote to the unrealistic expectations we have about motherhood, and a film for anyone who wants to see family life in all its unfiltered glory.