Community Screening: My Mom Jayne

Fans of Jayne Mansfield will not want to miss this moving and revelatory documentary about the actress, directed by her daughter, Mariska Hargitay. “I want to understand her now,” Hargitay says as the film opens, and the reasons behind the distance and the time it took to tell this story become clear as it proceeds. Blending archival photos and excerpts from film and television with present-day interviews with family members, Hargitay paints a picture of a woman who spoke multiple languages and played piano and violin, who was misunderstood and mistreated by the industry, kept some secrets, and died tragically young. Hargitay pieces together a multivalent portrait of motherhood, of disappointment and divorce, stardom and sexism, and of what the legacy means for Mansfield’s surviving family. The film is full of surprises, humor, and tearjerking moments as Hargitay skillfully examines all of the disparate elements of what made a movie star and immensely complicated mom. -Rod Armstrong

AUDIENCE INFORMATION

This is a free community screening. RSVP is required. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.