Sofia (217 days / 31 Weeks) 01    00:14:08

Sofia | Anxiety, Awareness of Camera, Curiosity, Gaze, Siblings, Silence, Wondering

Sofia in lying on the carpet in Luca’s room. Nomsa is tidying up the room and keeping an eye on the boys who are in the bath. Sofia smiles at the filmmaker. She is trying to move around on the mat and is able, increasingly as this particular filming session continues, to roll over intentionally. When the filmmaker arrives Nomsa asks Sofia “who’s here?” and Sofia responds with a smile. She returns her focus to the filmmaker often during this filming session.

After several minutes of moving and rolling and exploring on the mat Sofia begins to put her fingers into her mouth and also to suck on her babygrow. She begins to vocalise more loudly, although Nomsa and the boys are in another room and do not hear her. At one point she stops vocalising and freezes, silent, with the sounds of her brothers in the distance. Her eyes widen and the filmmaker responds “It’s okay. It’s okay sweetie”. Nomsa is singing to the boys and Luca is crying and calling for his “mommy”.

NOTE: The filmmaker responding/talking directly to Sofia is an unusual moment given that Sofia is not showing significant distress and is not in any physical danger. It is one of only three or four verbal interventions in the year of filming.

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