The Recap
Sara Lamm is a Los Angeles-based documentary filmmaker and mother of two known for her films, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox, Gigantic, Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives, and her most recent film, Thank You for Coming. She was inspired to film Thank You for Coming at 29 after finding out her biological father was a sperm donor. As a child of divorce and after losing her mother at 10 years old, Sara felt determined to find out who her father is and to answer questions about love and family.
In this episode, we talk about her latest film, Thank You for Coming, about her journey to find her biological father. Currently, Sara is working to get the film to a theater near you soon. We discuss the definitions of love and delve into the topic of what binds family together; whether it’s DNA or another factor. We also ask questions about family and how we make sense of our relationships, commitments, and vows and what it means to have connections. In her journey of reflection, Sara deduces the key to family isn’t biology and she explains why.
Episode Highlights
- 02:22 – How making Thank You for Coming shaped Sara’s relationship with her own family
- 05:34 – What it was like for Sara to have a conversation about family with her father
- 07:25 – The meaning behind, “A wife can stop being family, but a daughter can’t”
- 10:19 – Why Sara feels she has become closer with her adoptive father
- 12:06 – How love behaves
- 13:57 – Dr. M. Scott Peck’s definition of love
- 15:13 – Why being alone with the kids is like being harassed 24 hours a day
- 19:12 – Sara parents her kids by allowing them to be who they are
- 20:39 – Some of Sara’s battles with her daughter
- 23:20 – What Sara did after moving from North Carolina
- 26:04 – When did Sara start making films
- 28:26 – Sara taught herself how to make films
- 29:31 – The struggle of being a professional working mom
- 30:27 – What is was like before her son was born
- 32:25 – When did Sara make Birth Story
- 36:42 – The isolation of being a mom begins from the start
- 38:32 – “Sleep while the baby’s sleeping” isn’t real
- 39:04 – How Sara and her husband make it work
- 40:56 – Sara’s next creative project
- 43:08 – Focusing on how to bring love into conversations about family
- 44:16 – Sara’s new podcast, Thank You for Coming
- 45:11 – What Sara thinks when she hears the word MILF
- 45:24 – What’s something Sara has changed her mind about recently
- 45:56 – How does Sara define success
- 46:47 – Lightning round of questions
Tweetable Quotes
Links Mentioned
Thank You for Coming Movie Website
Connect with Jennifer
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I really enjoyed this one…not more than the others, but I can relate somewhat as an adoptive mother. I have often wondered about the nature vs. nurture theory when it comes to raising children. My husband and I almost adopted a baby girl several years ago and I wondered if I’d be able to have the relationship with this girl similar to the one I have with my mother and even my mother’s with her mother (great relationship). The adoption didn’t happen and a few months later, we adopted our son, who was 7 at the time. I can now see that nurture plays a HUGE role…that it doesn’t matter that we are not biologically related…I am his mother and I love him no matter what…