My Child

A poetic self-portrait reflecting on childhood, growing up, and the loss of innocence.

Shot, edited, and acted by Deniz Akyurek
A poem by Deniz Akyurek
Voiced by Lida Everhart
Music by Hiroshi Yoshimura and Aphex Twin
Featuring Yagmur Akyurek

What’s happened to my Play? Oh mother, where is Youth? Sometimes I see a shimmer of it, a reflection in the light Sometimes I think I see it in me But always it’s illusory Always I am searching for it; for me My Child, where are you? Come back to me Come out and play

The film began as a desire to translate my feelings about growing up into visual form. But as I started filming it became harder and harder to keep myself from describing those feelings in words. Through collaboration with my friend Lida Everhart, we were able to find a middle ground between visuals and the written word through a visual poem.