Filmmaker Statement

When I was in 8th grade, I took home an animatronic baby for the weekend for a school assignment. “The baby project,” as my classmates and I informally dubbed the assignment, is a part of sex ed curriculums across the country, designed to scare students out of teen pregnancy. Yet I didn’t find the demands of the project overwhelming—I found them thrilling. 
Taking care of my baby gave me a sense of control, in a time when I felt I had none. The baby unleashed my desire to be an adult, independent from the gaze of my parents, or the uncomfortable squeezes of being 13. It also reminded me of what it was like to be a little girl, as my mom and I looked through old baby clothes, photos, memories. Being 13 is slippery: you’re a kid and an adult at the same time. I wanted to make a movie about that feeling, and the uncanny, funny, and strangely touching experience of caring for a fake infant. And so The Baby Project was born.