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.
![](https://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Earth-Mama-810x1200.jpg)
Earth Mama opens on July 7.