Dear Georgina

Today Georgina is a Passamaquoddy elder, but in 1942 at the age of two, she was removed from her home and tribal community by Child Protective Services. For sixteen years, she lived in four separate foster homes and returned home at the age of thirty.

In Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip’s documentary short, Dear Georgina, we walk with Georgina on her journey to find herself, even at 80. Like thousands of other Native Americans, as Georgina’s life was being uprooted, much of her childhood was lost with almost no pictures of her as a child, no memory of family or culture. The only memory she carries is the abuse she received from her foster parents.

“The only memory she carries is the abuse she received from her foster parents.”

Running at fifteen minutes, Mazo and Pender-Cudlip give us a tiny yet powerful glimpse into Georgina’s search for her past. She visits her old junior high and finds pictures of herself as a teen. She recounts her return to her Passamaquoddy tribe, where she met an elder, who told her she looked just like her mother.

The “dear” in Dear Georgina refers to letters Georgina would write to her childhood self to find forgiveness. The segment is punctuated with an intense conversation about forgiveness and the burden of carrying one’s pain for so many years.

Dear Georgina tells a touching and profound personal story about the importance of finding one’s identity and brings awareness to a very imperfect and flawed foster care system.

Editor’s Note: Since the release of Dear Georgina, Georgina has passed into the next realm. The editors of Film Threat would like to send our condolences to Georgina’s husband and family. As shown in the documentary, she was a beautiful person.