Africana Studies Film Series: “Earth Mama"

As part of its ongoing Black Film Series, RIC’s Africana Studies Program will present “Earth Mama." Following the screening, the writer/director of the film, Savanah Leaf, will join the audience via zoom for a Q&A. This event is free and open to the public. 

Named one of the top 10 independent films of 2023 and the 2023 Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival, “Earth Mama” is an intimate coming-of-age story about a pregnant single mother who has two children in foster care and must battle the system to reclaim her family and make a life for herself and her children.  View the movie trailer.

“‘Earth Mama’ is a profound journey into Black motherhood,” says RIC Professor and Director of Africana Studies Sadhana Bery. “It demands that we witness the truth of a young Black mother without preconceptions and judgements. Mothering within the surveillance and control of the foster care system, we are drawn to the hopes, aloneness and deep love, embodied in her struggle to reunite with her children and to keep her newborn child.”