Motherboard

BAFTA winner Victoria Mapplebeck’s documentary Motherboard has been 20 years in the making. This remarkable film charts the joy, pain and comedy of Victoria raising her son Jim alone.

★★★★ “Tender, intimate, funny and entirely absorbing….marvellous humanity and warmth.”
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

★★★★ “Think Richard Linklater’s Boyhood crossed with Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson. It’s a magic spell of a film: a remarkable example of how filmmaking and montage can capture the essential essence of a life.” John Nugent, Empire

★★★★ “A powerful, no-frills portrait of single motherhood.”
Antonia Georgiou, The Upcoming

★★★★ “Joyous, lovely..a rich and gladdening film, a screen mosaic about children and parenthood made from a well of memories.”
Danny Leigh, Financial Times

★★★★ “Honest, funny and endearing.”
Gavin Spoors, Filmhounds

★★★★ FILM OF THE WEEK
“Terribly moving…A must-see.”
Maria Duarte, The Morning Star

“Warm, frequently funny and ingeniously made.”
Saskia Baron, Sight and Sound

Watch in cinemas.

At the age of 38, Victoria Mapplebeck found herself single, pregnant and broke. Unable to combine motherhood with freelance directing, she was forced to abandon her career in TV, instead turning the camera on herself and her son, Jim.

Filmed over 20 years, Victoria has recorded hundreds of hours of footage, capturing each twist and turn in Jim’s life, from the thumbs-up he gave her during her first pregnancy scan to his first day at college.

MOTHERBOARD is a unique self-portrait charting the real-life comedy and rollercoaster of solo parenting.  Victoria captures a life where both she and Jim survive her breast cancer diagnosis, two generations of absent fathers and Jim’s teen years with a gallows sense of humour and an irrepressible ability to turn lemons into lemonade.

The film navigates the trials and traumas of unromanticized parenting, where chaos rules. We’re privy to the monumental bust ups when tempers fray and doors slam, as well as the pair’s closeness and camaraderie as Jim turns into a fiercely opinionated and funny young adult who suddenly towers over his mum.

Honest, funny and infinitely relatable, MOTHERBOARD is the antidote to the unrealistic expectations we have about motherhood, and a film for anyone who wants to see family life in all its unfiltered glory.

“Film-making at its most unfiltered, unflinching and authentically human.”
MATTHEW D’ANCONA, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

 

       

Released in the UK and Ireland on Friday 15th August 2025

  • Director: Victoria Mapplebeck
  • Year: 2024
  • Country: UK
  • Duration: 87 minutes
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Production company: First Person Films
  • Cert: 15

Official website

IN CINEMAS

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From Friday 19th September

Tiree – Sea Change Film Festival  | Saturday 20th September

Caernarfon – Galeri  |  Wednesday 24th September

 

From Friday 26th September

Stamford – Stamford Arts Centre  | Monday 29th September & Friday 3rd October
+ Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck Friday 3rd October

RETURNING Hebden Bridge – Hebden Bridge Picture House  | Tuesday 30th September

 

OCTOBER

Walthamstow – Stow Film Lounge  | Friday 10th October

Hertford – BEAM  | Thursday 16th October

Inverness – Eden Court  |  Tuesday 21st & Wednesday 22nd October

 

NOVEMBER

Mayfield, East Sussex – Film Friday  |  Friday 7th November

Fordingbridge – Regal Cinema  |  Wednesday 19th November

Coventry – Warwick Arts Centre  |  Saturday 29th November
+ Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck

 

 

 

Past screenings

London  – WFTV Festival  |  Friday 7th March (+ Q&A With Victoria Mappleback)
Borderlines Film Festival – Courtyard Cinema, Hereford  |  Saturday 8th & Friday 14th March (+ Q&A With Victoria Mappleback Sat 8th March)
Borderlines Film Festival – Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Ludlow  |  Saturday 8th March
Borderlines Film Festival – Malvern Theatres  |  Monday 10th & Saturday 15th March
Leeds – Leeds international Film Festival Spring Weekender  |  Sunday 23rd March
London – We Are Doc Women Presents at The Garden Cinema  |  Monday 24th March (+ Q&A With Victoria Mappleback) SOLD OUT
London – Mother’s Day preview at Ritzy Picturehouse, Brixton  |  Sunday 30th March (+ Q&A With Victoria and Jim Mappleback, hosted by Reclaim The Frame)
Birmingham – Flatpack Festival at Mockingbird Cinema & Kitchen  |  Tuesday 13th May, 8pm (+ Introduction from Victoria Mappleback)
Bradford – Bradford Literature Festival at National Science and Media Museum  |  Sunday 29th June, 2pm (+ Q&A with Victoria Mappleback)
Newcastle upon Tyne – Tyneside Cinema  |  Monday 11th August + Q&A with Victoria and Jim Mapplebeck
London – Bertha Dochouse  |  Wednesday 13th August + Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck and Producer Debbie Manners
London – Bertha Dochouse  |  From Friday 15th August
London – ActOne Cinema  |  From Friday 15th August
London – Institute of Contemporary Arts  |  From Friday 15th August
London – Garden Cinema  | Friday 15th August + Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck Friday 15th August
London – Lexi Cinema  |  From Friday 15th August
London – Lexi Cinema  |  Saturday 16th August + Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck and Producer Debbie Manners
London – Castle Cinema  |  From Friday 15th August
London – Castle Cinema  |  Sunday 17th August + Q&A with Victoria and Jim Mapplebeck
Lewes – Depot  |  From Friday 15th August
Glasgow – Glasgow Film Theatre  |  From Friday 15th August
Newcastle upon Tyne – Tyneside Cinema  |  From Friday 15th August
Sheffield – Showroom  |  From Friday 15th August
Sheffield – Showroom  |  Tuesday 19th August + Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck
Bradford – National Science and Media Museum  |  From Friday 15th August
London – Curzon Soho  |  Saturday 16th August + Q&A with Victoria and Jim Mapplebeck
Hexham – Forum Cinema  |  Sunday 17th & Thursday 21st August
Sale – Northern Light Cinema  |  Tuesday 19th & Wednesday 20th August
Totnes – Totnes Cinema  |  Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st August
Bristol – Watershed  |  Wednesday 20th August + Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck
CONTINUING London – Bertha Dochouse  |  From Friday 22nd August
CONTINUING London – Institute of Contemporary Arts  |  From Friday 22nd August
Bristol – Watershed  |  From Friday 22nd August
Leicester – Phoenix  |  From Friday 22nd August
Coventry – Warwick Arts Centre  |  From Friday 22nd August
Birmingham – Midlands Arts Centre  |  Saturday 23rd August
Hebden Bridge – Hebden Bridge Picture House  |  Thursday 28th August, 7pm + Q&A with Victoria Mapplebeck
Gloucester – Gloucester Guildhall  |  Friday 29th & Sat 30th August, Thursday 4th September
Milton Keynes – MK Gallery  |  From Friday 29th August
Dundee – Dundee Contemporary Arts  |  From Friday 29th August
Buxton – Buxton Film  |  Monday 1st September
Hebden Bridge – Hebden Bridge Picture House  |  Tuesday 2nd September
Addlestone – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Banbury – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Bolton – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Bradford – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Cambridge – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Huddersfield – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
New Brighton – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Redhill – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Sheffield – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Sittingbourne – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Stockport – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Thetford – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Walsall – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Wisbech – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Hastings – Electric Palace Cinema  |  Thursday 4th September
Ludlow – Ludlow Assembly Rooms  |  From Friday 5th September
Kendal – Brewery Arts Centre  |  From Friday 5th September
CONTINUING Cambridge – The Light  |  Friday 5th September
Eastbourne – Towner  |  From Sunday 7th September
Tywyn – Magic Lantern Cinema  |  Sunday 7th & Wedneday 10th September
Tewkesbury – The Roses Theatre  |  Monday 8th & Thursday 11th September
Exeter – Phoenix  |  Tuesday 9th & Wednesday 10th September
Northampton – Filmhouse  |  Tuesday 9th & Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Addlestone – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Banbury – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Bolton – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Bradford – The Light  | Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Huddersfield – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Sheffield – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Sittingbourne – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Stockport – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Thetford – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Walsall – The Light  |  Wednesday 10th September
CONTINUING Wisbech – The Light  |  Thursday 4th September
Colchester – Firstsite  |  From Friday 12th September
Milford Haven – Torch Theatre  |  Sunday 14th September
Dublin – Irish Film Institute  |  From Sunday 14th September + Q&A with Victoria and Jim Mapplebeck Sunday 14th September
Nottingham – Bonington Theatre  |  From Monday 15th September

 

 

 

 

 

 

______

“A candid, unsentimental, perceptive and, at times, profoundly moving portrait of the highs and lows of motherhood.”

Wendy Ide
Screen international

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