Hi, This is Daniel Garber at the movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

Harriet lived a busy life in Nova Scotia and Ontario, raising her family and shooting documentaries. But something happened, and life became unbearable. She drifted away from her husband and kids.

Her daughter Lena had vague, fuzzy memories of happier days. So she set out to find her mother, and document it on film. But the happy days were long gone. She found her mom in and out of prison, addicted to drugs, detached, drifting, homeless, and living on the harsh streets of Toronto.

What happened? Lena wondered. What did the future hold for Mom and Me?

Mom and Me is also the name of a tough, tender and highly personal documentary that’s having its world premier at Toronto’s Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival. It was directed by Lena Macdonald and is all about her mother, Harriet Durham. Mom and Me is Lena’s first feature, ten years in the making. Harriet and Lena talk about life on the street, addiction, rehab, recovery, family roles, forgiveness, and what to include in a film and what to leave out.  I spoke to Lena and Harriet at CIUT.