Film Screening - Turn Towards Life: A Queer Birth Story and Gathering

Gather for scenes from Turn Towards Life, A Madden's in-progress documentary. Turn Towards Life: A Queer Birth Story and Gathering is a multimedia journey through a queer experience of conception, gestation, birth, and parenting. This documentary traces one journey of family building as a queer, nonbinary, solo person. The story follows A through the joys and griefs of conception, gestation, birth, and parenting while navigating a shifting partnership and the complexity of trying to shape a queer family that sustains and cares for all. Throughout their journey, they call on the wisdom of other queer and trans parents, create ceremonies to explore in community, and craft rituals of transformation for themself. Through film, installation, and community engagement, this project seeks to bring awareness to the challenges and possibilities of creatively and intentionally building a queer family and create a space for collective reflection on bodies as portals for life, kin building as a necessary act of resistance, and nurturance as a practice of liberation. This is a long-term project that will journey through conception, gestation, birth, and parenting. This iteration is about conception. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with director, A Madden, members of the creative team, and film participants. Prior to the film screening, we will be hosting two free workshops: Workshop: Tune Into Your Cycle 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM Join midwives Teryl Stay and Kalli Chason in a workshop exploring the cycles of our bodies. Learn how to use various methods to track your ovulation cycle and tune into the specific patterns and cues of your body. We will celebrate the uniqueness of all of our cycles and reclaim our agency of our own body knowledge and care. Creative Workshop: Birth In All Its Forms 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM Join doula Beth Hardy in a workshop honoring all the ways we 'birth' throughout our lives - whether we've birthed a baby, an idea, a project, a relationship, or a piece of art. Through writing prompts, visual art making, movement and conversation, we will explore what it means to let go of what was and birth something new. You can register for these workshops HERE. More information about the event and the project can be found here.