There are moments in Earth Mama, the drama about motherhood at its most fragile, when the quiet intensity of the film settles in your heart, like a heavy stone hitting your heart. Written and directed by Savannah Leaf, this is her feature debut. It also features one of the most expressive scenes of her I’ve seen this year, where a single camera move reveals a world of heartache.
Thanks to Leaf, you can enter the world of cinema. The movie centers on Gia (the lovely Tia Nomore), a recuperating, pregnant single mother with her two children in foster care. In tight, precise scenes, Leaf sketches Gere’s life, its uncertain horizons, and overwhelming limits. Gia lives in the Bay Area, shares an apartment with her sister, who is elusive in her life, and works in a shopping mall portrait studio. For the most part, Gia struggles to get her children back, a time-consuming process that involves a reintegration program in which she is constantly monitored. She checks in with a caseworker and attends classes with her other mother. At one point she pees in a cup.
The story follows Gia’s precarious life as she works, attends programs, visits her children (short, painful interludes), and gets rejected cards at stores and runs out of cell phone airtime. Just keep track of how you spend your time. Undercurrent of steady tension. Gia is doing everything right. She follows the rules to keep her clean. Still she can’t move forward. Her program requires that she not be able to work any more, but she is behind on her child support payments because she cannot work any more, and she will be reprimanded by her caseworker. become. Leaf suggests that if the system appears to be rigged to cause Gia to fail, it is because it is.
Dark as it may sound, the film is an emotional workout (which will bring you to tears) but never drags you in. Lief’s delicate touch and not punishing or demonizing her characters are crucial in this regard, as is her attention to beauty. (Cinematographed by Jody Lee Lipes.) The drama of the film tells the story of Gia enlisting the help of social worker Miss Carmen (Erika Alexander, a powerful and important presence) for a potential public adoption. Born from meeting a family of three. Played by Bokeem Woodbine, Kamaya Jones, and the heartbroken Sharon Duncan-Brewster, this family is as adorable as the diffused light that shines on their anxious faces. (The very good cast also includes Doechii and her Keta Price.)
