Did you ever feel like you were born into the wrong family? I did. According to my mother, I couldn’t do anything right and my brothers couldn’t do anything wrong. My nose was too big; my hair was too frizzy and my butt too fat. All I ever wanted was out, out of her way, out of my house, away from the constant barrage of criticism, orders and demands. After I left home, went to university and built an Emmy-award winning career, underneath my successful façade I was seething with anger towards my mother. My struggles with trust and abandonment sabotaged many aspects of my life including my personal and romantic relationships. Most people don’t believe that I even talk to my mother today much less she is my closest friend. My story is about forgiveness. How I came to understand, forgive and cherish my mother.

Gayle Kirschenbaum is an Emmy-winning filmmaker/TV producer/writer. Called “the Nora Ephron of documentaries”, Gayle has turned the camera on herself in her recent feature documentary. LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER! is about the transformation of a highly charged mother/daughter relationship from Mommie Dearest to Dear Mom. This is the “larger version” of her humorous short film, MY NOSE, in which we follow her mother’s relentless campaign to get her to have a nose job. Prior to this film, Kirschenbaum made a poignant and wacky film with her dog about the human/canine bond called A DOG'S LIFE: A DOGAMENTARY, which premiered on HBO. She created several reality shows that premiered on TLC and Discovery Health, and co-created JUDGMENT DAY that also aired on HBO.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx