EARTH MAMA

Gia is 24, heavily pregnant and alone. Her two children live in foster care; to get them back, she must attend court-ordered parenting classes, keep appointments with social services and work enough hours on the side to get by. The third child she is expecting could be taken from her as well. So Gia considers giving it up for adoption, and gets to know Paul and Monica, a well-meaning middle-class couple. Her friend Trina considers this a betrayal: being a mother is a right no one should have taken from them. “Earth Mama” by Savanah Leaf, a US film from 2023, is set in the Bay Area and tells of a woman caught between instinct and circumstance.

The US director Savanah Leaf developed her feature debut out of the short film “The Heart Still Hums”, which she made with Taylor Russell. The Oakland rapper Tia Nomore plays Gia; Jody Lee Lipes shot the cinematography, Kelsey Lu wrote the music. It premiered in Sundance in January 2023, distributed by A24; it won the award for outstanding debut at the BAFTAs. The film was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2023 as the Closing Night.

Shown at the 2023 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2023 · Film Archive