Synopsis

A Florida family goes on a quest to understand the impact of the United Kingdom’s policies for families, including paid parental leave, childcare services, and the children’s right to play. Journey with them to a small town in Wales as they navigate parenting their imaginative young daughter in a new culture.

About Us

Bonnie Silvestri is a first-time filmmaker who was inspired to make a documentary with her husband Michael after becoming parents and experiencing first-hand the difficulties new families encounter without the benefit of a social safety net. Silvestri studied law at the Ohio State University College of Law and has worked in both New York City and Sarasota in the field of government ethics. For over a decade she has taught Constitutional Law and Women and the Law at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. She won the 2015 Graham-Frey Civic Award from the Florida Campus Compact for outstanding contributions to the development of civic learning and engagement in sustaining participatory democracy.

Director Statement

We wanted to look at the question “what happens to your happily ever after, after you have a baby?” How do you balance wanting to spend as much time as possible with your child while keeping your career on track and keeping your finances afloat? Do you have to subsume your own dreams to support a new young life? “Funnel of Dreams” is a very personal story for our family about a special time in our lives when we took a deep dive into exploring the origins and benefits of parental leave and the children’s right to play in the United Kingdom. We hope this film will spark a dialogue among audiences about the importance of supporting families during a child’s early years. Additionally, the need and desire to spend time with our children continues far beyond the early years, and that basic human value ought be part of the global dialogue.

Press

A very interesting and informative documentary. The film is quite personal and intimate in nature yet it manages to communicate a bigger broader message so important and relevant for our modern-day society. There is a nice balance between archive material, interviews and normal footage which makes the film very engaging. It’s also useful and inspiring to see the variety of people interviewed from the next door neighbour, local community member to scholars, curators and government workers. The interviews and conveyed information do not feel repetitive or dragged out – it all seems relevant and interconnected; and it flows rather naturally. There is also a good narrative structure which facilitates this flow of information, and though there is much packed in none of it feels superfluous. – Sunday Shorts Festival

Herald Tribune “Through Women’s Eyes brings international female filmmakers, stories to Sarasota”

Sarasota Observer “Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival asserts its identity”

Scene Magazine “Sarasota Contemporary Dance Presents Film Screening and Dance Collaboration”

Museum of Motherhood “Funnel of Dreams Film Screening”

Images