LIMITED OPTIONS. LIMITLESS LOVE.

Mimi and Dona


A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY SOPHIE SARTAIN


Heart-wrenching. As unflinching as it is beautiful.” - The New York Times



MIMI AND DONA was nationally broadcast on PBS/Independent Lens.

“A beautiful portrait of parental commitment. One of the best TV shows of the year.”—Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

TV Critics’ Pick—Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Philadelphia Daily News, Texas Monthly (The Checklist) and more!


What happens when love runs out of time? For a 92-year-old mother, Mimi, who has cared 64 years for Dona, a daughter who has an intellectual disability, it means facing the inevitable—the likelihood that she will not outlive her daughter and the need to find her daughter a new home.

This poignant, heartbreaking and, at times, humorous documentary traces this process through the story of a quirky and deeply connected mother-daughter duo. The film spotlights the challenges of aging caregivers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities—some 4.6 million Americans, 75% of whom live at home with family—and details the ripple effects of Dona's disability on three generations of a Texas family.


Mimi and Dona billing block Katahdin Productions The Fledgling Fund