Genre
Synopsis
For decades, I struggled with the decision to have kids. For some, this choice is easy. For me, it loomed so large that it reached the level of a nightmare. During fertility treatments, I actually dreamed that I was a raw chicken who gave birth to a peep of chicks that formed a flash mob to the chicken song. The absurdity of this dream compelled me to question the roots of my internal conflict. THE CHICKENING weaves together four main elements through a personal voice-over: animated dream sequences, interviews with my mother and sister, biblical re-enactments, and animated archival material. A stop-motion depiction of the dream described above reflects the vulnerability of fertility treatments. Interviews with my mother and my sister convey that, unlike me, the most important aspect of their lives is motherhood. Re-enactments of Torah stories engage with religion’s contempt for non-mothers. Animated archival material of reproductive (in)justice movements visualizes America’s long history of reproductive nationalism – the state’s control over which people get to give birth when, and where those families are permitted to live freely. With the rise of the Pro-Natalist movement, further restrictions on access to abortion in a Post-Roe reality, and violent family separations happening at the hands of ICE every day, it is even clearer that motherhood in America is not solely a personal choice, and it never has been.
Director Identity
Bio
Sarah Ema Friedland’s work is rooted in nonfiction, but uses the vocabulary of speculative fiction and fantasy to tweak and reimagine reality. Her films have screened at Lincoln Center, Anthology Film Archives, DCTV, Hot Docs Cinema, PBS, and Cannes Film Festival Doc Corner Pitch. They have been supported by grants and fellowships from Jerome, Paul Newman, Ford, NYSCA, the Palestine American Research Center, the LABA House of Study, and MacDowell. She was named one of the “Top 10 Independent Filmmakers to Watch” by the Independent Magazine, is a recipient of the Paul Robeson award, and was nominated for a New York Emmy. Her feature documentary LYD, co-directed with Rami Younis, premiered at the 2023 Amman International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize for Best Documentary and the FIPRESCI. Her films have been covered by Variety, The New York Times, Filmmaker Magazine, Screen Slate, Hyperallergic, and The Brooklyn Rail. She has written for Millennium Film Journal and Filmmaker Magazine. She was the founding Director of the MDOCS Storyteller’s Institute at Skidmore College and is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Liberal Studies, where she directs the Global Media Lab. She is a member of the Meerkat Media Collective.
Awards History
NYSCA- Suppot for artists grant - 2026
NYU- New Faculty Crative Project Award- 2026
Fordham - Fordham/NYU Research Fellow Award- 2026
