Recently I had the opportunity to screen a new documentary, “Motherland”. I gathered with four of my girlfriends and watched six American mothers, all who had lost a child, find some healing on a trip to Africa.

Directed by Jennifer Steinman, “Motherland” is about resilience, triumph of the human spirit and the power of unconditional love.These six women: Debbie, Mary Helena, Anne, Kathy, Barbara and Lauren have little in common except for the fact that they have lost a child, or a sibling. (Lauren’s mother was unable to make the trip so the 22 year old college student and sister took her place.) They travel to Africa for a 17-day trip that spent working with agencies that strive to better the lives of children in areas that engulfed by death due to HIV/AIDS. During this trip each woman, in her own way, takes another step towards healing as she give to the children of Africa.

After viewing this powerful film, my friends and I sat quietly and reflected before anyone spoke. There were 5 of us in the room and between us we have lost multiple children, parents and one spouse. This movie affected every one of us. Once the discussion started flowing, it was hard to stop. We talked for over an hour after the movie ended. We cried with each other as some of us shared our own stories of loss, and we prayed for each other and the ladies in the movie.This movie is not religious in nature, though they do show the women attending a Christian church service. All of the ladies I viewed this movie are Christians and this review is based on our personal thoughts and reactions.

Our conclusions about this movie are:

• Every parent should see it. It reminds you to never take your children for granted.
• Each of us grieves in our own way, we must love and encourage those around us as they walk through their grief.
• Grief can lead to very unhealthy behaviors, especially for people without a support network to lean on.
• We were not created to suffer loss and grief, they are both results of the Fall of Mankind. Only those who, prior to death, have chosen a relationship with Jesus Christ leave their survivors any hope of spending eternity with them.

“Motherland” premieres on Gigantic Digital this Wednesday, August 26, 2009. You can watch the trailer here. Gigantic Digital is a great way to watch a lot of Indie Films that never get released to the public. They offer a $2.99 three-day ticket to commercial free independent films, right on your computer. After August 26th you can click “watch now” on the trailer page to watch the full movie.

“Motherland” was the winner of this year’s Emerging Visions Audience Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival. Its other awards include the Jury Prize for Best Feature at the 2009 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival and Best Documentary at the 2009 California Independent Film Festival.

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