Rising Stars: Meet Lauren Aboulafia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Aboulafia. 

Hi Lauren, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.

After I had my first baby, I was a mess. The birth experience wasn’t what I expected, and I felt very anxious and very alone, so I started going to these mom support groups…

I’d get there, chit-chat with the other moms, and then I’d tell my birth story: I had abdominal hemorrhaging at 30 weeks, got rushed into emergency surgery, and then my baby’s fetal heart rate dropped while I was in the recovery room and they had to rush me back in for an emergency C-section; my son spent two months in the NICU, and while he was there, he caught a hospital-borne infection that led to meningitis, and he almost died – I’d look around the room and see all these other moms and their jaws would be on the floor. So, I’d say: “Fortunately, that was my exact birth plan!”

That’s right, laughter is the best medicine. Laughter and Lexapro. Morphine is also really great.

I always found ways to tell my birth story with a touch of humor and humanity. I started working with Maternal Mental Health Now, sharing my story in an effort to destigmatize post-partum mental health struggles. Then I turned it into a monologue for Jewish Women’s Theater. Finally, as my Covid project, I taught myself animation and animated my story.

The more I shared, the more I realized how many other moms have dramatic, bizarre, heartbreaking, and hilarious stories to tell too. All you have to do is listen to Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Jessi Klein or Natasha Leggero talk about their pregnancies and births to realize that there are some really funny moms out there getting really real about their pregnancy, birth, and life after birth, and there’s an audience eager for these stories.

So, my husband gave me the idea to animate my story, and I created and animated a short called SUPER SCAR.

SUPER SCAR is an animated short based on a true story, about a new mom’s unexpected struggle to stay sane amidst the madness of the NICU. In telling her story to a mommy-and-me support group, she learns through humor to be grateful for all the goodness in her life, especially her Super Scar, which ultimately symbolizes her newfound warrior spirit.

Obstacles/Challenges Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way? 

After college, I struggled to figure out how to be creative, make money and live in the unknown. I also got overly consumed about what other people thought of me and it was destructive.

I like to be in control, but my traumatic birth experience, which was the greatest struggle of my life, and the pandemic were both profound reminders that control is a mere illusion and all we can control is our response to life’s challenges. So, I turned something hard into art.

Then I decided to have a second baby, three years later, because I wanted to retell my story and have a “normal” pregnancy, but at around 5 months pregnant, I tore my lisfranc in my right foot, and was bedridden and couldn’t put any weight on my foot for the remainder of my pregnancy. Those with some dark days. I really struggled and learned AGAIN about having a false sense of control and that motherhood is no easy journey.

But in the end, my struggles have anchored me in realizing what’s really important.

We’d love to learn more about your work. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others? 

I’m recently most proud of creating an animated short, teaching myself to animate, and being selected to screen at multiple film festivals.

Super Scar won best animation at LA Independent Film Awards (May 2022), premiered at the LA Shorts International Film Festival (July 2022), Malibu Film Festival (online March 2022), Toronto Women’s International Festival (online- February 2022), DTLAFF (September 2022), and LA Femme International Film Festival (October 2022).

Upcoming Screenings: LA Women in Film Festival and LA Animated Film Festival (this fall).

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?

I am very driven. If I get obsessed with something, I want to work on it all the time. When I was working on my short, I would wake up before everyone and animate. Once I found something meaningful to me, that might help others, and that also brought me joy, it finally all made sense.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @lalaboulaf
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauren.aboulafia

Image Credits
Theo & Juliet