The complex dynamic between mothers and their daughters has long been a source for compelling stories, and When Skies Are Gray is no different in its search for matriarchal closure. With this film, I wanted to depict a relationship so complex -- so full of love, hate, confusion, obligation and guilt -- that it would be difficult to decide where the two characters stood by the end. I also wanted it to be unique in its narrative which, thanks to Sallie, I believe it is.

My mother is my best friend, no matter if she agrees. Despite the tension, fear and anger that comes with her recent fall from reality, our love for each other has never ceased. This film comes straight from the pages of my diary as my protagonist discovers the same terrifying realities and hard truths about her mother as I have. She struggles, as I do, through feelings of guilt and frustration, at times still succumbing to the familiar comfort of her sometimes lucid mother.

In my realization that my role in life as my mother’s daughter has ceased to exist in any normal way, I question how to deal with minds different than my own. I desperately wonder how to fit an unwell family member into my life. I try everyday to understand my parents’ mistakes. All of these questions and my continued search for their answers live unsteadily in this film, waiting to be pondered upon by others but refusing to ever fit into one cubicle of understanding. I hope with this film that those with frustratingly passionate relationships can relate to the full range of emotions that I feel as a product of my mother.