Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)
Directed by Anna Fitch, Banker White
Starring Yolanda Shea
2026 | Documentary | 1h 18m | United States
Born of love and grieving, the celebrated documentary Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird) recreates the life of Yolanda Shea, a mercurial artist filmmaker Anna Fitch met nearly a generation earlier.
Lauded and applauded at the San Francisco International Film Festival as well as festivals in Berlin, Seattle, Nantucket and Ouray, Colorado, this joyful film originated in grief (as did the quietly haunting Forastera). At its Berlinale world premiere, the film won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution, and SFFILM’s jury added an honorable mention for the Kirby Walker Documentary Award. Anna Fitch was 24 when she met Yolanda (Yo), who was 73. Their friendship was instant and lasted until the death of Yo some 16 years later.
Anna realized then that she “wasn’t ready to say goodbye.” So began an amazing journey as she sought a way to keep Yo’s memory alive.
Anna and her husband Banker White recognized the age gap would take Yo away from them at some point. So they began filming in her tiny Pacific Grove home, sometimes asking questions but at other times simply recording as Yo reminisced about her childhood in Europe and her amusing reaction to the roles a good Catholic girl was supposed to play, about sex, about marriage, about motherhood and about recreational drugs.
When Anna gave birth to a girl, she brought her baby to Yo and photographed the two delighting in each other’s company. When Anna’s family drove to Pacific Grove to spend time with Yo, they slept on a mattress on her living room floor, since her house was so small. Yo’s refrigerator actually was on her back porch.
How to remember Yo, this collage artist and perennial rebel? Gather photographs from her youth and from their friendship. Take pictures and video of all her furniture and artwork. Then recreate Yo’s home and her car and the street she lived on, at one-third the normal size!
This documentary is about that unusual and touching project. Anna is a filmmaker and a puppeteer and a trained entomologist. Her husband Banker also possesses multiple skills. Together they recreated Yo’s world and we see that happening as Anna speaks off camera. I believe she cut locks of her own long hair to put on the marionette representing Yolanda.
With meticulous care they made miniature furniture, curtains, bed linen, kitchen utensils, every aspect of the life Yo lived. Video filled in the gaps: hilarious memories of Yo reminiscing, as well as photos of her young French lover Jean-Baptiste, who stayed for several years.
WATCH: YO (LOVE IS A REBELLIOUS BIRD) | Official Teaser
This film is a mix of video, collages, time lapse photography, and Anna’s striking use of animated insects to illustrate family squabbles. Anna and Banker utilized a montage approach to condense time and space.
It would be easy to teach the bird to come inside, but she did not wish to compromise its freedom.
In Yo’s kitchen was a door to her back porch. A bird often accepted food from her at that door. Yo explained it would be easy to teach the bird to come inside, but she did not wish to compromise its freedom.
In the 1875 opera Carmen by Bizet, there is a famous aria which begins:
“When will I love you?
Good Lord, I don’t know
Maybe never, maybe tomorrow…
But not today, that’s for sure.
Love is a rebellious bird
That none can tame.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird) about?
The documentary follows filmmakers Anna Fitch and Banker White as they memorialize Fitch's late friend, collage artist Yolanda Shea, by recreating her Pacific Grove home, her car and her street at one-third scale, weaving together miniatures, puppetry, archival video and animation.
Who was Yolanda Shea?
Born in Switzerland in 1924, Yo was a collage artist and perennial rebel who settled in Pacific Grove, California. She met Anna Fitch when she was 73 and Fitch was 24, and their friendship lasted some 16 years, until Yo's death.
Did Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird) win any awards?
Yes. It won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at its 2026 Berlinale world premiere and received an honorable mention for the Kirby Walker Documentary Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Where can I watch Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)?
The film is currently touring the festival circuit, with screenings in Berlin, San Francisco, Seattle, Nantucket and Ouray, Colorado. A theatrical and streaming release has not yet been announced.
How long is Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)?
The film runs 78 minutes.
YO (LOVE IS A REBELLIOUS BIRD): FURTHER VIEWING AND RESOURCES
