Experiencing Interruptions?

Dear Uncle

A filmmaker explores what happens when our parents’ wishes exceed the limits of our identity in a letter to her recently passed uncle.

  • Marianne Amelickx-Labrador
    Director
    Salta, Mustache Mondays, Blessed and Highly Favored
  • Marianne Amelinckx
    Producer
    Salta, Mustache Mondays, Blessed and Highly Favored
  • Julieta Messmer
    Executive Producer
    Mustache Mondays, Blessed and Highly Favored, Nena say Hi to Diego
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Family, identity rights
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 1, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Colombia, United States, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, tape.
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.9:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Outfest Los Angeles
    Los Angeles
    United States
    July 22, 2023
    World Premiere
Director Biography - Marianne Amelickx-Labrador

Queer Venezuelan based in Los Angeles. Director of Salta, a short film that won a Jury Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival, Best Short Film at the 20th Pink Apple Festival (Switzerland), available on Amazon Prime. Among her latest works are Mustache Mondays, a documentary episode for PBS SoCal, anD official selection of the Outfest Fusion 2022 festival. She was also Co-Director and Co-Writer of the short film Blessed and Highly Favored, an official selection of Outfest Los Angeles, New York Latino Film Festival, Hollyshorts, and NewFest LGBTQ+ New York Film Festival. She is currently developing her first feature film titled La Barca de la Ilusión.

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Director Statement

This project was born as Marianne grieved the loss of her uncle Ignacio, who died during the pandemic while she was unable to say her goodbyes. Ignacio was the younger brother of Marianne's father and one of four siblings who were raised between Belgium and Venezuela by world war II survivors who flew from Europe in the 1950s.

With many unanswered questions in mind, Marianne sat down with her father and invited him to dive into a family story that had felt off-limits until then. As she tries to make sense of the new findings -and with the help of hours of stock footage she gathered through a lifetime as the family videographer- she weaved this essay for the documentary Lab Noticias Desde Ninguna Parte.

The result is an honest, raw look into her family, the threads that bind them together, and the way that this has influenced her journey as a queer person.

The goal now is to turn Dear Uncle into a feature that delves deeper into Marianne's family’s history as she tries to reconnect with Andy, her other uncle, with whom She's never had a close relationship due to an issue she doesn’t know much about because, as her dad would say, "we just never talked about it" (either).