Brooklyn-based filmmaker Charles Frank made an incredible short film about his relationship with his mother after not returning her calls for years. He explained that he felt a disconnect with his family as he got older and left home because he was so focused on his career and his own life.
When Charles was 21, his mom asked for his help to transfer some old home movies onto a hard drive. He watched 20 hours of home movies that he’d never seen before, including many clips of him as a toddler, learning to ride a bike, playing outside, and walking along the beach. This prompted him to continue looking into the past, so he opened all of his old unopened voicemail messages. He listened to 38 voicemails, almost all of which were from his mother. In some messages, she told him about a new recipe or a shirt she found for him. In others, she told him she missed him and “missed having a son.”
These messages made Charles realize that his mother loved him unconditionally throughout the years, even when he wasn’t returning her calls. To show how powerful her love is and to finally respond, Charles decided to create a short film for her. He said, “My mother deserves a return, and I hope this film is a step in the right direction.”
His film, which is about four minutes long, is titled “My Baby You’ll Be.” It alternates between clips from the home movies from his childhood and pieces of the voicemails his mother left him. It ends with the message, “To Mom: For being there even when I wasn’t.”
Charles released the film around Mother’s Day. The video has received many comments from people who were inspired to call their own mothers because of the video’s message. Even as kids grow up and become independent adults, mothers always remain loving and supportive. Charles’ video shows that the love a mother has for her children remains the same from childhood to adulthood.