Cinema
Spirit of My Mother
El espíritu de mi mamá
Ali Allie · 1999
Synopsis
Sonia, a single Garifuna mother settled in Los Angeles, has lost touch with her roots; the memory of an American soldier she loved haunts her, and her dead mother comes back to her in dreams. When she loses her job as a nanny, she leaves for the north coast of Honduras to perform the ceremony her mother had asked for so that she might rest in peace.
Context
The film is shot in the United States and Honduras; its author presents it as a meditation on motherhood, and as a look at Garifuna culture and at the African part of Latin America. It includes a long ritual sequence, with traditional songs and the punta dance. Distributed on DVD by Vanguard Cinema in 2002, it was revised in 2017 and put online free of charge; its running time varies from one hour to seventy-eight minutes depending on the version.
Who it is for
Film in Spanish, with English subtitles, of about an hour; it has been available online since 2017.
Prizes and reception
First fiction film to give the leading roles to Garifuna actors; shown at South by Southwest in 1999, then at Ouagadougou and Montreal.
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