Filmmaker Nicole Betancourt talks about her new film “The Unfixing,” which is an indie documentary that explores chronic illness and the climate crisis.
Background on ‘The Unfixing’
“The Unfixing” is a poetic exploration of a mother’s journey from illness to healing, framed by the intensifying global climate crisis.
The movie presents a richly textured visual diary, capturing the intimate moments of Betancourt’s personal struggles with a debilitating illness and the ripple effects on her family, all while engaging with larger ecological questions.
As her body begins to break down, so too does the planet – both requiring a radical transformation and renewal.
How did it feel to create “The Unfixing”?
Creating this film over seven years consumed my waking life and my dreams – not in a creepy, obsessive way, but more of a give-your-life-meaning way. It brought joy and play into my life during one of my most difficult times.
What did this project teach you about yourself?
That story changes everything. Every action we take or system we create starts with a story. I learned that the stories I tell myself change my brain neurons, my immune system, and my body. I discovered a new capacity for creating rich visual worlds and a new trust in my dreams.
Why is the climate crisis such an important issue to you?
Chronic illness gave me a deeper understanding of our planet, which is chronically ill with the climate crisis. It is like a fractal that repeats at every scale – our physical health mirrors our planetary health.
On this spectrum of scale, I feel a disenfranchised grief and anxiety about an uncertain future. At the same time, because of this connection, I feel a renewed sense of awe and belonging to this beautiful planet.
How does it feel to be creative in the digital age? (Now with streaming, technology, and social media being so prevalent)
Everyone is a media maker now, and I love it. People have the power to play with images and tell their own stories – sometimes it reminds me of experimental films of the ’70s.
What is dangerous is when everything becomes an advertisement telling us we are not enough without some product. This “not enough” mentality is driving us to consume the planet and, thus ourselves.
Your attention, your vision, is your greatest asset; don’t sell it to the lowest bidder.
What do your plans for the future include?
I am going to continue my poetic inquiry into how we can learn to live in this liminal time when the landscape is changing so radically.
I am developing a new feature documentary with producer Rose Kowalski on discovering joy through an exploration of grief for our world.
I am also working on a video/art installation with my mother/artist, Jeanne Betancourt, and husband/composer, Bray Poor, on threads that tether us to each other through time.
Were there any moments in your career that have helped define you?
My first personal documentary, Before You Go (HBO) was about my relationship with my father, who died of AIDS in the early ’90s.
Making this film set me on a path to use film as a way to connect people to each other across perceived prejudices and divides – this extends to how we connect with nature. What if we didn’t see nature as a resource to be consumed but instead as a close relative?
What does the word success mean to you?
Success, for me, is when I get to create in ways that generate beauty, healing, and joy. It means that my experiences can be of use to others and that I am reaching people who could benefit from my work.
What’s the one thing you want our readers to get out of “The Unfixing”?
I hope that people will see themselves in the film and feel seen as a result. Also, that separate, define, and fix is not the only way to respond to crises. We can focus on the relationship between things – how do we relate to our world and our bodies? This is a powerful modality for healing.
Unfixing is, in a way, being in right-relationship with each other and the world, finding inspiration from water, fire, air, and earth. Aligning ourselves with what we love.
To learn more about filmmaker Nicole Betancourt, check out her official website, and follow her on Instagram.
