Behind The Piece with Mnatalla Eldaas
I wrote Hekayat Mama in 2021 during a particularly weird phase in my life. I was getting back into writing constantly and started a substack where I wanted to share the feelings that I was too afraid to speak out loud. During that period I was writing a lot about my upbringing. Writing about my family has always come naturally to me. Growing up in a tight knit dynamic allowed for a lot of my experiences to be tied back to my family. In short, Hekayat Mama was easy, even fun, to write. It was an illustration of words that highlighted my favorite part of my childhood and the one so easy to remember: my moms stories.
When I was approached by ZDC for my writing to be included, I knew that I wanted an element of visuals to be displayed beside my writing. Alisa is a long time friend of mine and someone whose work I always appreciated and valued. Her comics always brought me joy, she is able to take the simplest interactions and create strips of comics that make everyone go “ahhh wow”. It was almost immediately after I hung up the zoom with ZDC that I called Alisa and asked her to partner up with me.
I knew that our piece would evoke emotions but I didn’t realize how special and heart warming it would be. When Alisa and I first started storyboarding she made sure to ask me all the questions some of which included “how did you mother’s dress look?”, “what was your favorite joke your dad told?”, “what car did he drive?”, “what movies would have been in the VCR store?”. Because we wanted the details to be accurate, we dug up old photos and we visited the neighborhood I grew up in. Every aspect of the video, which we know may not click for most, was a part of my childhood that I hold so dearly in my heart.
We knew from the very start of the process that we wanted to narrate the story and add snippets of my mothers voice. I, luckily, keep random voice memos of my mom sharing stories with us that we were able to use in the audio. When we completed the project, I was brought to tears. I thought that only I would have this reaction, but to my surprise I watched many tear up as they watched the video as well.
A large part of why I think the story hit home for many is because it touches on a variety of topics a lot of us have gone through– grief, heartbreak, familial bonds. We’re always telling stories, you just need to listen close enough to hear them.
