Mothering Inside

 

 

Short Film (Documentary), 2015, Unrated(?)

Premise - A short documentary on the Family Preservation Project in the state of Oregon, that allows incarcerated mothers extra time to bond with their children outside of the visitor's room when some mothers would not otherwise have the chance to see their children at all. The Family Preservation Project is a unique opportunity that government was hesitant to fund. After funding was revoked, they had to fight for it back.

Review - This is another documentary that I had to watch during my first quarter of grad school, and the timing of it made it hit particularly hard. For one, I think about the data on the families that have been separated in detention camps under the Trump administration. Second, I thought of my own family. This may not be the most sensitive of metaphors, but I sure thought a lot about my cats.

 

Hear me out. My cats are like my children, I have been around since they were tiny, tiny, tiny - and now I have had to leave them behind to grow up without me. I'm now living in a different space, in my little prison of grad school (I know, not a sensitive metaphor, but let me finish), and I only have the opportunity to see them, at most, once per month. So those short periods of time I do get to see them, I shower them all over with affection, especially physical affection. And when I leave, I'm already thinking about the next time I'm going to see them. I just visited my cats this past week, and the OVERWHELMING emotions that flooded me within a split second - I was full on bawling. And yet, that must be a fraction of how these moms feel seeing their own human children. My empathy has exploded. There is a particular kind of pain associated with being separated from a child - something I would consider cruel punishment.

I talked about the effect on the mothers first, but we can talk about the obvious - THE IMPACT ON CHILDREN. Fostering that attachment relationship, not writing off their mom as a "bad" person even though she made mistakes, and giving them the time to just... rely on their mother. Even for an hour. 

It's an angering documentary in the sense that I think the whole legal system is screwed, as is the child welfare system. Removing children from their parents is a way to perpetuate the cycles of crime and violence. You want a safer community? Invest in the socioemotional health of our children. (92/100)

Quote - I did not record any quotes, but I remember they all sang a song in which they went through everybody's names, so it was really personal to the families.

 

What to watch for - I think witnessing the physical attention and touch was really visceral. Seeing the young children cuddle up to their mother and rest on their shoulder/stomach taps into a very primal nurturing emotion.

 

If you liked this film, I'd recommend the other documentary I had to watch, Tough Love!

Directed by Brian Lindstrom

Distributed by Dark Hollow Films