The ‘Conversation’ adoption documentary by Archie Hancock, Jack Zimmerman with Judith Hancock

And while she knows the answer to that question is “no”, her feelings of rejection remain very real. Indeed, The ‘Conversation’s’ filmmakers were less interested in reality and more in the creative possibilities opened up through re-enactment as a path to catharsis.

“All of the actual biological stuff is almost not as relevant because it’s the feelings that we imprint on people when they’re younger and these emotions that grow and we latch onto our entire lives,” says Zimmerman.

Archie and Zimmerman believe the disconnection Hancock felt to her family parallels Australia’s era of forced adoptions, a practice that peaked between the 1940s and 1970s when unmarried mothers were coerced into giving up their children.

“A whole generation grew up with this uncertainty about, ‘are my parents really my parents?’” says Zimmerman.

With each actor, Hancock explores different iterations of the conversation she never had, her “mother” expressing indignation, hurt, frustration and tenderness.

Archie, who is close to his grandmother, says they drafted the documentary’s script together. The hope was that she might be able to find relief in the space between fact and fiction.

“It wasn’t just about making a film, it was also giving Nanny the chance to have the conversation that she never got to have and see if she could get some closure with that,” he says.

Hancock’s on-screen revelations bred an intimacy with some of the actors too.

“It’s not in the final cut of the film, but a lot of these actresses actually reveal their own family issues at times and talked about their own regrets and questions they never got the chance to ask,” says Archie.

Since appearing in the film, Hancock has been working on a book about her family’s history, a process that has helped bring her closer to her mother.

Her eldest sister, Gene, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, a condition that put her in a wheelchair her whole life. Another sister, Beryl, passed away at just six months from measles.

“It would have been terrifying for her,” says Hancock of her mother.

“It’s a pity that I don’t think I ever let mum know what I felt. So [the documentary] helped us. It was a good reconciliation.”

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Since screening the film around Australia, including its debut at Flickerfest last year, they have had a huge response from audiences.

“It speaks to this idea of the regret we hold onto for our whole life and the conversations that we put off… it’s such a universal idea that people can empathise with,” says Zimmerman.

At the end of the documentary, we hear Hancock’s voice echoing from off-screen.

“I wish I could show that little girl who spent so much time worrying about this how great her life turned out to be,” she says.