Where do babies come from? Filmmaker Jessica Yu poses this simple yet puzzling question to a group of adults who recall their childhood beliefs about sex and reproduction, as well as to children who explain their imaginative answers, all of which come alive as beautiful, eye-popping illustrations.

Filmmaker Q&A

Introduce yourself:
Jessica Yu is an Academy Award and Emmy-winning director based in Los Angeles. She won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short for BREATHING LESSONS, a film about Mark O’Brien, the poet who was confined to an iron lung. Her feature debut, the comedy PING PONG PLAYA, which she directed and co-wrote, premiered at Toronto and was released by IFC Films. Her latest documentaries, PROTAGONIST and IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL, the widely acclaimed portrait of outsider artist Henry Darger, both premiered at Sundance and were released theatrically. Her HBO documentary, THE LIVING MUSEUM, about an art community in a psychiatric center; also premiered at Sundance. Yu has also directed episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and The West Wing. She also directs commercials for nonfiction spots in Santa Monica, for which she has won a New York Emmy.

What inspired this film?   How did you find your subjects?
I always thought stories of "confusion about procreation" made good cocktail conversation, especially if one visualized them. Also, I love making short films because one can be more stylistically whimsical. Short films offer more freedom and more immediate gratification than feature films. We found our subjects through friends, friends-of-friends, Craigslist, and traditional casting (not of actors, but of real people).

Animation is always a challenge, because it's so time-consuming, labor-intensive, and collaborative. Even though there were a lot of discussions with the animators at Stardust, there were a lot of surprises -- all good ones -- in seeing the finished animations. Another surprise was how much little kids today can tell you about how babies are made, but how they're still basically clueless. Still innocent.

What is your all time favorite documentary?
This is an impossible question!

Did you go to film school?
No.

What do you shoot on?
Varicam.  

What has been the most unexpected thing to happen since taking the film on the festival circuit?
I have heard more "babies come from the pumpkin patch" stories than Dr. Ruth. Although perhaps that's not so unexpected.

Why did you want to screen your film at SILVERDOCS?
Silverdocs is known to be one of the best festivals for docs. I only wish I could be there. I am jealous of my own film.