One of the most accomplished directorial debuts of the year thus far, Olympian-turned-director Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was also selected as Opening Night of New Directors/New Films. Starring Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, Keta Price, Doechii, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Bokeem Woodbine, Dominic Fike, the film follows Gia, a pregnant single mother pitted against the system, fighting to reclaim her family. Ahead of a July release, A24 has now released the first trailer.
I said in my Sundance review, “Conceived with a remarkable amount of filmmaking confidence, Savanah Leaf’s directorial debut Earth Mama follows the trials and tribulations of a pregnant single mother struggling to get by day-to-day, restricted to seeing her other two children, currently in foster care, only one hour per week during supervised visits. With a history of drug addiction, she must find her way through a system that stacks the odds against her, exploring the possibilities of adoption and the pain of knowing the court may immediately take away her soon-to-be-born baby. It’s a difficult, demanding portrait of a life in shambles, susceptible to being relegated to poverty porn or a social-realistic bent that surrenders to one-note misery. It’s a miracle, then, that Olympian-turned-director Leaf finds both the humanity and beauty of every frame, bringing empathy to an impossible situation and delivering an abundance of grace notes.”
See the trailer below.
Earth Mama opens on July 7.