Bantú Mama is a 2021 Dominican drama film directed by Ivan Herrera and written by Ivan Herrera and Clarisse Albrecht. Produced by Ivan Herrera, Clarisse Albrecht, Nicolas LaMadrid and Franmiris Lombert,[4] it was filmed in the Dominican Republic, France and Senegal. The film tells the story of Emma (Clarisse Albrecht), a French woman of African descent who manages to escape after being arrested in the Dominican Republic. She finds shelter in the most dangerous district of Santo Domingo, where she is taken in by a group of children (Scarlet Reyes, Euris Javiel and Arturo Perez). By becoming their protégée and maternal figure, she experiences an unimaginable change in her destiny.

Bantú Mama
Film poster
Directed byIvan Herrera
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySebastián Cabrera Chelin
Edited byPablo Chea, Israel Cárdenas
Music by
Production
companies
  • Point Barre[1]
  • Basecamp Studio
  • Aurora Dominicana
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 16 March 2021 (2021-03-16) (SXSW)
  • 13 October 2022 (2022-10-13) (Dominican Republic)
  • 17 November 2022 (2022-11-17) (Netflix)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryDominican Republic
Languages
  • Spanish
  • French

The film was selected as the Dominican entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.[5] ARRAY acquired the distribution rights to the film in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and it was released on Netflix on 17 November 2022.[6]

Release

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It had its world premiere on 16 March 2021, at South By South West, being the first Dominican feature film to be selected by the festival.[7]

Awards and nominations

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Year Ceremony Result Notes
2021 LIFFY - Latin & Iberian Film Festival at Yale Best Feature Feature Film Won [8]
2021 47/Festival de Huelva - Cine Iberoamericano Best Photography Won [9]
2021 Durban International Film Festival Best International Feature Feature Film Won [10]
2021 Durban International Film Festival Best Photography Won [11]
2021 Durban International Film Festival Best Performer for Clarisse Albrecht Won [12]
2021 Nova Frontier Film Festival Special Mention Won [13]
2022 QAFF 2022 - Quibdó África Film Festival Best Feature Film Won
2023 NAACP Images Awards Outstanding International Motion Picture Won [14]

References

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  1. ^ a b Vlessing, Etan (2022-10-07). "'Oscars: Dominican Republic Picks 'Bantú Mama' as International Feature Submission". THR. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  2. ^ Lee, Vicki (2022-10-11). "'ARRAY Acquires Dominican Republic's Oscar Submission "Bantú Mama," Clarisse Albrecht Stars". THR. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  3. ^ a b Grobar, Matt (2022-10-10). "Ava DuVernay's Array Acquires Dominican Republic's Oscar Entry 'Bantú Mama' From Director Ivan Herrera". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  4. ^ "Ava DuVernay's Array Acquires Dominican Republic's Oscar Entry 'Bantú Mama' from Director Ivan Herrera". 10 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  5. ^ Grobar, Matt (10 October 2022). "Ava DuVernay's Array Acquires Dominican Republic's Oscar Entry 'Bantú Mama' From Director Ivan Herrera". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Ava DuVernay's Array Acquires Dominican Republic's Oscar Entry 'Bantú Mama' From Director Ivan Herrera". deadline.com/. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  7. ^ "SXSW 'Bantú Mama' Review: Africa Meets The Caribbean And An Accidental Family Is Born". in.mashable.com/. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  8. ^ "LIFFY 2021 | Yale MacMillan Center -Latino and Iberian Film Festival".
  9. ^ ""Bantú Mama" gana premio mejor fotografía". 23 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Durban International Film Festival (2022)". IMDb.
  11. ^ "Durban International Film Festival (2022)". IMDb.
  12. ^ "Durban International Film Festival (2022)". IMDb.
  13. ^ https://www.facebook.com/NOVAFRONTIERFILMFESTIVAL/
  14. ^ "'Wakanda Forever' and 'Abbott Elementary' top NAACP Image Award nominations". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-05-26.
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