Being mother is the most natural thing in the world. Or so it seems. Yet the demands on women with children have rarely been as overloaded and contradictory as they are in today’s Western world. Promises of happiness are often followed by disadvantages, excessive demands and feelings of guilt. The mother has become an artificially glorified ideal, which nevertheless is often legitimized by the „nature of the woman“. We live in a time when three people could claim to be the same child’s mother: egg donors give their genes to beget children, surrogate mothers deliver babies which they give away immediately after birth, and men raise children by themselves – without a woman at their side. Hence the question arises: What makes a human being a real mother?
Related Movies
Sonaggios (2025)
In the Sardinian town of Tonara, where the ancient art of crafting cowbells teeters on the edge of extinction, a family battles to preserve their heritage, passing down skills to a new generation while grappling with personal struggles and the pull of modernity. English subtitles.
Roads Between Us (2024)
A retired truck driver reflects on a life spent on the road while his children explore the emotional toll of his absence, honouring the unsung heroes who keep the world moving.
Nelson the Piglet (2023)
Nelson is a miniature pig—at least, that’s what the Verbeek family were told when they bought him as a cute little piglet. But seven years and 500 kilos later, Nelson has become a big problem. The neighbors and the housing association think it’s unacceptable to have such a large and smelly animal in a residential neighborhood. Son Brandon is being bullied at school because of his pet.
Fancy Like Walker Hayes (2024)
The song "Fancy Like" was #1 in the US in 2021, taking off on TikTok and becoming the anthem of the year with an Applebee’s commercial. Walker and his daughter Lela (who choreographed the dance) explain how that song changed their lives. The documentary is the definitive story of Hayes' life, retracing 17 years of struggling with addiction and loss before this massive overnight success.
1997: The Birth of the Camera Phone (2017)
On June 11th, 1997, Philippe Kahn created the first camera phone solution to share pictures instantly on public networks. The impetus for this invention was the birth of Kahn's daughter, when he jerry-rigged a mobile phone with a digital camera and sent photos in real time. In 2016 Time Magazine included Kahn's first camera phone photo in their list of the 100 most influential photos of all time.
Audio and the Alligator (2024)
Audio Caña, an old farmer in rural Venezuela, believes there is a giant alligator living in his pond. With his family's help, he's determined to prove its existence to his friends who are often dissuaded by his exaggerated stories.
A New Kind of Wilderness (2024)
In a forest in Norway, a family lives an isolated lifestyle in an attempt to be wild and free, but a tragic event changes everything, and they are forced to adjust to modern society.
Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story (2007)
Documentary about brother and sister duo The Carpenters, one of the biggest-selling pop acts of the 1970s, but one with a destructive and complex secret that ended in tragedy.
Ghosts: Long Way Home (2019)
After a spell cast by Grandma Faraway, the oldest son of a small family encounters the ghost of his late Grandma Maria still living in her old house, and they chat as they used to.
My Brother the Terrorist (2014)
In this sequel to "My brother the Islamist," we continue to follow Robb Leech as the tries to understand his stepbrother's journey and transformation from middle-class boy to convicted terrorist.
Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche (2007)
Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.
Memory Books (2008)
In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death.
Mama Rosa (2019)
Rosa is from Croatia and lives in Switzerland, with her husband who depends on her care. She takes care of everything. Her children have grown up and want to leave home. Rosa stays behind alone.
To Be and to Have (2002)
The documentary's title translates as "to be and to have", the two auxiliary verbs in the French language. It is about a primary school in the commune of Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, Puy-de-Dôme, France, the population of which is just over 200. The school has one small class of mixed ages (from four to twelve years), with a dedicated teacher, Georges Lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year.
Mount Lawrence (2015)
Chandler Wild, A New York based filmmaker, travels 6,700 miles to the end of the road in Alaska to honor his deceased father by naming a mountain after him.
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.
Buzz One Four (2017)
Buzz One Four chronicles the ill-fated flight of a Cold War B-52 Stratofortress loaded with two 3-4-megaton nuclear bombs that crashed 90 miles from Washington DC in 1961. Information suggests that detonation came closer than official reports indicated. The full details of the crash have remained classified and otherwise repressed by the Air Force, but the filmmaker, Portlander Matt McCormick, grew up with this story because the pilot was his grandfather. As McCormick recounts the history of the era, aspects of this crash, and other little-know nuclear-weapons accidents, he leaves us wondering if the U.S. was in greater danger of nuking itself than of being attacked by the Russians.
My Child (2013)
What happens when your child comes out to you? In this feature documentary, parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender individuals in Turkey intimately share their experiences with the viewer, as they redefine what it means to be parents in this conservative society.
Blood and Water (2007)
When the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, 65-year-old Anton Ambrose's wife and daughter were killed. "In five minutes," he says, "I lost everything." A year later, Anton returns to Sri Lanka. With him is his nephew, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando. A Tamil, Anton moved to California in the 1970s and became a very successful gynecologist. His daughter, Orlantha, made the opposite journey, returning to Sri Lanka where she ran a non-profit group that gave underprivileged children free violin lessons. Blood and Water is the story of one man's search for meaning in the face of overwhelming loss, but it is also filled with improbable characters, unintentional comedy and situational ironies.
