The "Conversation"
Director: Archie Hancock Jack Zimmerman
Cast:Judith Hancock
Crew:Writers: Archie Hancock, Jack Zimmerman.
Email:info@tallyproductions.com
Synopsis
For her whole life, Judith suspected she was secretly adopted, but was always too afraid to ask her mother. With the help of a few actresses, we gave Judith the chance to re-create this important conversation.
About the director
Archie Hancock and Jack Zimmerman, are a directing duo from Australia dedicated to making bold, original films with a clear perspective. Their debut short Kindling (2023) screened at festivals around the world including Revelation Perth, Cannes Indie Shorts, and Berlin Indie. Their documentary short The Conversation premiered at two Academy Award- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, and was selected as one of just 15 documentaries from over 3,400 submissions at Australia’s most prominent short film festival. They are currently in post-production on Despite the Night, starring Ed Oxenbould (IFC's Wildlife) and Joe Bird (A24's Talk to Me), shot by Sundance alum Sean Ryan and executive produced by Berlinale Silver Bear-winner Patrick Graham. TALLY is also developing an animated documentary, Albion St, about Australia’s AIDS crisis, backed by an Oscar-winning producer, alongside their debut feature. Outside of filmmaking, Jack has worked in development at Wooden Horse and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, while Archie recently studied under acclaimed auteur Pedro Costa at Playlab Film’s Directing Lab in Mexico.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13333006/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm16998278/?ref_=tt_ov_dr_1
Filmmaker's note
Judith has spent her entire life questioning whether she was adopted. Her mother was unusually old when she was born, the family lived next to an orphanage, and most painfully, she felt she was never shown the same love as her siblings. Yet, Judith never had the chance to ask her mother this one crucial question.
In this documentary, we offer her a unique opportunity—through the use of actresses playing her mother, we attempt to recreate the conversation she never had. But the challenge for us became: can one ever truly re-create such profound and personal moments?
This project is framed within the broader historical context of forced adoptions in Australia. Between the 1950s and 1980s, hundreds of thousands of young, unmarried women were coerced into giving up their children. Due to societal pressures and institutional practices—driven by authorities and the church, now deemed illegal—many of these children were forcibly removed from their mothers. Up to 250,000 children were affected, and poor record-keeping has left countless older Australians, like Judith, unsure of their true parentage. Many never asked their parents about it, driven by fear, uncertainty, or shame.
Through Judith's journey, we explore the lingering scars of this dark chapter in Australia's history and ask if it’s ever possible to heal the wounds left by unspoken questions and unresolved truths.