Project Paper Birds

2020 was a tumultuous year for all of us, but things took yet another turn in late August for then nineteen year old college student, Alli Connelly after a previously forgotten childhood trauma resurfaced. But there was a catch: while she knew the trauma had happened and the fallout had unknowingly snaked itself throughout her life leading up to first ‘remembering’, she still struggled to recall the details of the event itself.

At first, Alli assumed her fragmented and unorthodox recollection of things made her an anomaly. But soon with research, treatment and connecting with others bearing similar stories, she came to know that this phenomenon was not only common, but on par with survivors of childhood trauma. While still grappling with the missing holes in her past, there was yet another question she couldn’t shake: If this experience is so common, why is no one talking about it? 

Paper Birds is an ongoing documentary challenging our preconceived notions of memory and illustrating what it means when we say ‘the body remembers trauma’. Nobody tells you how to live without answers or in the absence of justice. But starting a dialogue and creating pieces where survivors can see themselves on screen is a start.