A chance encounter on a night out, an exchange that should never have taken place, a look that was never meant to be, one impulsive act of violence.
I Mother is a film that shares with us the pain a mother and her family must go through following the sudden loss of a child through a random act of violence. Mother, the fictional character in our story, sets out on an eternal journey that will take her across continents in search of another lost soul.
The film is punctuated by interviews with families who have lost a loved one through an act of mindless violence, in particular what a mother must live through knowing her child has left, never to return.
Long after the news reports cease, the cameras have gone and the column inches have faded, the wounds that have been opened for these women do not heal. Time may pass but these are wounds that never heal.
Executive Producer – Dee Allen-Barnes
Executive Producer – Marium Raja
Executive Producer - Troy Titus-Barrow
Producer - Alexandra Leal-Allen
Producer – Tia Perkins
Producer – Danika Casas
Associate Producer - Namakula Mu
Writer/Director – Dee Allen-Barnes
Cinematographer – Michael Girandola
Editor – Sewra G. Kidane
Original Music By: Alexia Riner
Directors statement
The motivation behind I Mother pre-dates the public outcry that followed the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. It was a very personal desire of mine to address the resulting circumstances that families go through when a young life they love is suddenly taken away by an act of violence. I wanted to find those willing to share their stories and present them in a compelling way. The essay film unfolded not out of design but had much more to do with me attempting to celebrate the beauty of our culture through my eyes, even though the backdrop may appear to be one of sadness, this really is a film about the strength of our mothers, young and old. And the courage they display everyday as they raise and protect their children.