Our screening on Friday 15 August will be followed by a Q&A with director Victoria Mapplebeck hosted by Rebecca del Tufo.

At the age of 38, Victoria Mapplebeck found herself single, pregnant and broke. Unable to combine motherhood with freelance directing, she was forced to abandon her career in TV, instead turning the camera on herself and her son, Jim.

Filmed over 20 years, Victoria has recorded hundreds of hours of footage, capturing each twist and turn in Jim’s life, from the thumbs-up he gave her during her first pregnancy scan to his first day at college.

The Garden Cinema View:

Although there’s a reoccurring discomfort around the ethics of filming a child during some pretty raw moments, Motherboard is a compelling watch. They payoff is something like a real-life Boyhood, and director Victoria Mapplebeck shows that the relatable highs and lows of normal life make for genuinely engaging, thought-provoking, and moving cinema.