2021 Directed by Iván Herrera
A French woman of African descent manages to escape after being arrested in the Dominican Republic. She finds shelter in the most dangerous district of Santo Domingo, where she is taken in by a group of children. By becoming their protégée and maternal figure, she will see her destiny change inexorably.
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🎧"How could somethin' so tarnished be flawless?/Told you, life's a bitch, but she's gorgeous"🎶 - Jadakiss, Incarcerated Scarfaces
Bantu Mama is an intimate human tale all about connection, or lack thereof: the disconnect between the social self and others, the disconnection of maternal desires and familial ties, and the complicated connection between African roots and the displaced African diaspora.
This film is a unique found family portrait. A journey of confrontation and healing. An engaging submersion into a gritty and vicious milieu. Beauty harmoniously wedded to unprettiness.
Random thoughts:
✨ I love how this film sensitively locates humanity obscured beneath hardened dispositions midst exceedingly harsh living realities.
✨ There's so much potency bound to the deliberate pacing and the quietude…
The story within Bantú Mama just couldn’t quite draw me in for some reason. Perhaps it’s the result of a long day or maybe because my arm is sore from my first COVID vaccine. Either way, it’s no fault of the film’s.
The visual beauty captured throughout the film is just breathtaking. Some of the most captivating compositions featuring natural light that I’ve seen out of the year so far. Doorframes and archways are a major framing method, really helping to reinforce the fact the audience is a voyeur to the story unfolding. I caught myself marveling over how crisp and well shot each scene was frequently.
SXSW Watch #6
With a premise ripe for a film full of suffering, Bantu Mama chooses hope, freedom and human connection. A woman caught with heroin smuggled in her bag at Las Americas Airport in Santo Domingo miraculously escapes but not without some close calls in a very intense first act. In one of the poorer area of the Dominican Republic's capital she's given shelter by three youths without any parental guidance. She becomes particularly close to the youngest. A sensitive boy with little interest in becoming a "tigre", a macho man full of cunning and crime. A role that many young men in the barrio fall into. Both become surrogates to each other for a better life but only if they can…
There are so many traps lurking in a narrative like Ivan Herrera’s Bantú Mama (a film presently available on Netflix). It could easily slip into colorism or an uncomfortable Eurocentric saviorism. But it avoids such hazards. The film begins like a thriller: A single Cameroonian woman living in France named Emma (Clarisse Albrecht) is caught trying to smuggle drugs into the Dominican Republic. In a maddening chase scene, Emma escapes, washing ashore at the feet of Tina (Scarlet Reyes) and Shulo (Arturo Perez), two local teenagers.
Emma takes shelter at their home, where she meets their youngest brother Cuki (Euris Javiel) and becomes a surrogate to the trio. The sharp Tina, portrayed by an unforgettable Reyes, immediately sees Emma as…
Gorgeous naturally lit cinematography and a strong debut voice.
One of the sharper entries so far.
I love being dominican and this movie hit extra hard. I can’t help but just love and appreciate every shot in this and the dialogue and the acting was done so well and cohesive. Everything almost just stood so still and I could just appreciate the beauty in it all. I’m really glad I watched this.
SXSW # 1
What a stunningly gorgeous looking film. Some of the best cinematography I have seen in quite some time. Blew me away.
Authentic characters, great acting, a slow pace but rightfully so. A quiet experience. A simple? story. There’s turmoil, love, chaos, peace...
This whole film looks breathtaking for the entirety of its run time.
4/5
Will write more later **
I have no idea who Emma, the main character of Bantú Mama, is supposed to be as a person, and I can't quite shake the feeling that neither do the people who made this film, which is why they keep so much about her frustratingly vague, a decision I find hard to wrap my head around, as her identity plays such a large part of the film (to the point it figures in the title).
I found the look and feel of this film to be often captivating, but that wasn't enough to get me invested, as I couldn't help but feel it is all surface and no depth.
SXSW 2021 #4
Bantú Mama is a slow, beautiful burn through the threatening, exotic locales of the Dominican Republic. The contrast between the white sandy beaches and seedy districts of Santo Domingo escalate the struggles of a Cameroonian woman as she takes shelter with three children to escape detainment.
La película tiene muchísima calidad. Me gusta mucho la representación de nuestras raíces africanas encontrándose con una realidad dominicana. Para mi gusto ciertos aspectos se quedaron muy abiertos, me hubiera gustado conocer un poco más los motivos y el trasfondo de Emma, cómo y por qué llegó ahí, así poder conectar un poco más con ella y su sentimiento de mucho amor pero miedo. Sin embargo, muy buena actuación y dirección. Me gustaron mucho los personajes de los jóvenes, se sintieron muy reales, los diálogos muy fluidos y cercanos. La fotografía y el arte destacan muchísimo y le dan mucha belleza a esta historia.
