Hackney Lullabies
short documentary, 2011, HD, 10 mins
Every night under Hackney skies, mothers from faraway lands create a familiar space for their children by singing them lullabies, the same ones they heard as children. The film explores the mother’s dilemma in sharing her sense of home with a child who is rooted in another country and culture. Do the lullabies bring them closer together, or accentuate the difference between them?
World Premiere at Berlinale 2011
Prädikat: besonders wertoll (FBW), Link zur Jurybegründung
Winner, Berlin Today Award 2011, Berlin International Film Festival (2011) Official Selection, Sydney International Film Festival (2011)
Official Selection, Times BFI London Film Festival
Nomination, Best Film, London Short Film Festival
Nomination, Best Documentary, London Short Film Festival
Written & directed by: Kyoko Miyake
Director of Photography: Laura Bellingham
Editor: Sirko Knüpfer
Music: Patrick Durkan
Sound & Sound Design: Jana Irmert
Re-Recording Mixer: Jörg Höhne
Producers: Katrin Springer, Volker Ullrich
shot on location in London, UK
Hackney Lullabies is realized as one of the five finalists of the Berlin Today Award 2011. The Berlin Today Award is the Talent Short Film Competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus and is supported by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. produced by Filmkantine UG with the support of Camelot Broadcast Services, The Post Republic, Studio Mitte, Location Sound Berlin, Medias Reiseservice, TNT, Holland Subtitling
World Sales: Interfilm
A compassionate, intimate account of the difficulties mothers face raising children in a new country. Quite poignantly, the lullabies sung by the women in their native languages point to the difficulties they will face maintaining cultural connections to their children as they grow older. (Hollywood Reporter)
A sensitive, funny, warm-hearted, and interesting contribution to the immigration debate in times of globalization. (Berlin International Film Festival)
Kyoko Miyake’s evocative documentary about immigrant mothers shines in international film competition. (Hackney Citizen)