Mommy Issues
From Norma Bates to Natalia Akerman, mothers have loomed large in the history (and herstory) of cinema; whether warm or wicked, nurturing or nagging, their presence is primal, poignant, and freighted with psychic baggage for filmmaker and audience alike. By way of tribute to their earthly burden, we present a series of films about mothers in all of their wonderful, complicated multiplicity, lovingly crafted by an eclectic group of artists who will variously make you laugh, cry and squirm—with or without maternal accompaniment. Happy Mother’s Day!
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Momma's Man
Directed by Azazel Jacobs | 99 mins | 2008
After two delicate, scrappy features that made him a filmmaker to watch ("Nobody Needs to Know" and "The Good Times Kid"), Azazel Jacobs delivered a small-scale treasure that quickly became the standard bearer for a new generation of New York independent... -
Child's Pose
Directed by Peter Neter | 112 mins | 2013
Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, "Child’s Pose" offers a scathing indictment of corruption in contemporary Romanian society in the tale of a wealthy mother willing to do anything in order to protect her wastrel son from the consequen... -
Finding Christa
Directed by Camille Billops and James Hatch | 55 mins | 1991
An affecting yet unsentimental portrait of motherhood, Camille Billops’s collaboration with husband James Hatch captures her reunion with the daughter she was forced to give up for adoption in 1961, combining candid interviews and archi... -
Signature Move
Directed by Jennifer Reeder | 80 mins | 2017
In writing this zesty but tender rom-com, Fawzia Mirza—also the film’s star—mined her life experience as a Muslim Pakistani lesbian living in Chicago. Zaynab (Mirza) finds herself falling for the effusive Alma (Sari Sanchez), but isn’t ready to come ou... -
The Body Beautiful
Directed by Ngozi Onwurah | 24 mins | 1991
A tale of two women, a mother and a daughter, divided not just by age but by race and conventions of sexual desirability too, with the elder woman having undergone a double mastectomy and the teenager stepping into modeling. Ngozi Onwurah’s boldly styliz... -
Blue Black Permanent
Directed by Margaret Tait | 86 mins | 1992
While making "Aftersun" (2022), Charlotte Wells discovered a kindred spirit in her compatriot Margaret Tait: the sole feature by the medical doctor turned poet and filmmaker, "Blue Black Permanent"—in fact the first by a Scotswoman, made towards the end ...
