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What about brutality victims who keep their lives but lose much more? What about their families? “Black Mothers Love & Resist” is a film that goes beyond portraying the trauma that families face to teach communities about self-care and rebuilding.
By Ava Manson
See the feature film Black Mothers Love & Resist on February 18 @6:45PM at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 11th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. Tickets now on sale!
In 2009, the police killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant shook the community of Oakland, California. But his story wasn’t new to the thousands of families affected by police brutality each year, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Where headlines and news segments delve headfirst into the violence, their focus on death tolls and largely insufficient sentencing, Black Mothers Love and Resist takes a stand with the underreported. What about the victims who keep their lives but lose much more? What about their families?
Following the lives of Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, and teenage attack survivor Ulysses Wilkerson’s mother Angela Williams, Black Mothers Love and Resist documents the network of matriarchs building their communities back from unspeakable loss. “This is a film that goes beyond portraying the trauma that families face,” says the film’s award-winning director Débora Souza Silva. “We want to teach communities about self-care.”
We spoke with Débora Souza Silva and her co-producer Loi Ameera Almeron on the five-year making of the film, the emotional impact of its creation, and the community response from the women in front of the camera.
Great to meet you both. Can you talk about the early days of Black Mothers Love and Resist? We know this project started back in 2017.
DÉBORA SOUZA SILVA: Yes, you’re right. Actually, this project started as a short film. I was working at the Center for Investigative Reporting, and we had this series of short films about a big event that happened in the news, and then we told the aftermath story. When I was working there, I thought about the case of Oscar Grant, which was something that stayed with me. I moved from Brazil in 2009, and Oscar’s killing by police at Fruitvale Station happened right after I arrived in the US. I had moved to Oakland where it happened.
I remember that his death had a profound impact on me. When we were working on that series, I decided to reach out to his mother Wanda Johnson. I learned that she organized an annual gathering with mothers of victims, and I thought that could be an interesting story for the series. When I connected with her, she let me come and film her gathering of moms, and I learned that she was this very powerful, amazing person, who in the midst of such pain of losing her son, was finding a purpose. She was helping other moms to navigate the justice system as they were going through the same things that she had when she lost Oscar.
The story never left me. I just kept thinking, “I need to produce a bigger film.” That’s how the idea of Black Mother’s Love and Resist was born. I also came to meet my second protagonist, Angela Williams, who is a mother in Alabama. I was very interested in her story because as a black woman, I know that police brutality doesn’t only manifest through killing black people. In the case of Angela Williams, her son was brutally beaten. He survived but as she explains, he was killed emotionally. I thought that was an important contrasting story to follow for the film.
And as these women brought you into their spaces, how much did you surrender your own plans for the project to develop the documentary in real time, as their own lives and stories continued?
SILVA: As a documentary filmmaker, I wanted to make sure that I was incorporating all aspects. This is about police brutality, and police brutality doesn’t only happen through killing. I really wanted to make sure that I was inclusive of that. I didn’t know when I began that Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant, would be mentoring Angela Williams from Alabama. I could have done a documentary with those stories separately, but it beautifully interlaced. That was the beauty of being guided by the protagonist.
LOI AMEERA ALMERON: That’s true. With the story of Angela, we always hear these stories because unfortunately the victims were killed. In Angela and Ulysses’ case, Ulysses survived. We don’t hear about those stories. We also came to learn that very little data tracks those cases, and so to be able to not only follow these mothers’ journey—it also guides our research. Dealing with different states, Alabama is definitely one of the strangest in terms of providing open records, because they’re not providing documents to the public as much as other states would. Their journeys also guide our own journeys, in terms of finding out answers ourselves.
Turning the question to you two more personally, we don’t always talk about how stories like these affect journalists and documentary filmmakers emotionally. It’s not just work once – you’re in these people’s lives, and you’re experiencing a lot of pain with them. What was this project like for you both on a personal level?
SILVA: It was really difficult for me especially, because midway through production I became a mom. It took a whole new meaning for me because I was asking them about those stories of loss and pain in losing their children. I began asking this as a mom and thinking, “This could be my son.” Being close to that caused me a lot of pain, but on the other hand, becoming a mom made me appreciate the movement they are building to fight oppression and police brutality.
I remember having very profound discussions with my fellow documentary filmmakers about how hard it is to cover those stories. Sometimes you’re in the heat of the moment like, “Film, film, film,” and you don’t process at that time. Then you get home, and you start processing things slowly. What helped me during those times was talking with other fellow filmmakers covering similar difficult stories and topics. More lately, people have been talking more about the need for therapy for journalists and documentary filmmakers. I hope this discussion continues because it’s an important thing to do.
And what was the reaction to the film like? From Angela, Wanda, and everyone else involved.
SILVA: It was such a beautiful experience. Being in Alabama, all Angela’s family showed up. One thing that I heard from some of her friends that stuck with me, was that all those people around her didn’t know everything. It’s not a negative thing. It’s just that even family members who are so close to her are now able to see, in detail, her pain through an arc in the film. Their reaction was really, really impactful.
ALMERON: A lot of the social justice movement on civil rights happened in Alabama, in Birmingham. So, to be able to bring the film there and connect with organizations and engage with people was very meaningful. We were literally surrounded by these walls that had murals of all of these civil rights leaders. And both moms being there, and in Angela’s home, having her neighbors, her community really see what’s happening with her and what’s happening in her community was extra special for us.
And finally, what do you hope this film does for your audience?
SILVA: First of all, this is a story about tragedies and police brutality. Very heavy topics. But my hope as a filmmaker is that by showing the mother’s stories of resilience, resourcefulness, and their victories—because our film highlights their victories—I hope that this film will inspire audiences across the country and offer them a model. We call what Wanda does the blueprint for justice because she mentors other mothers. We hope that her blueprint for justice and the tools and strategies she shares in the film can be transferable to other communities who are fighting not only police brutality, but oppressive systems.
This is a film that goes beyond portraying the trauma that families face. We want to teach communities about self-care. You’ve seen in the film that activism work is important, but it takes a toll on our protagonist. I hope that communities will not only be inspired by the activism work that the moms are doing, but also understand that it’s important to rest. It’s important to care for themselves, especially for people who are in this constant fight against oppression.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Ava Manson
Ava Manson is a New York-based writer and senior at New York University. She will graduate in 2023 with degrees in Journalism and Linguistics with a minor in American Sign Language. She is currently a Contributor at V Magazine and an Editorial Intern at Interview Magazine.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 11th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 16-25 2023. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 73 fantastic films in all genres from 21 countries, including shorts, features, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all-volunteer, minority and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. Our mission is to promote diversity, bridge the opportunity divide and provide a platform for under-represented artists and a variety of genres, viewpoints and approaches. We believe that only by seeing others’ stories can we understand each other and only via an open door can the underrepresented artist enter the room.
Winter Film Awards programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Promotional support provided by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.
For more information about the Festival, please visit winterfilmawards.com
