Mo Mamma

27th Black Nights Film Festival

“Mo Mamma” caresses the pain, that is left in those sending away.

Director Eeva Mägi's film spreads a eulogy on a warm summer dew. This branches out along different paths as the grief of a mother and daughter. The goal is to escape from feelings that are more than the soul can handle. Escaping as far as possible from each other and then accidentally crossing paths again. Consciously trampling over each other. To find unconditional love in the fragile vicinity of open wounds. These are the paths that wrap around Mamma's home, who is in the hospital and won't be coming back. The daughter's mighty country house is surrounded by picturesque views, but Mamma is not part of this luxury. Her story and home have been different. The times were different.

VHS tapes with fragments of Mamma, however, continue to live on in this film which is powerful in its intimacy. A film that lets the viewer get so close that under the skin you can recognize yourself and others around you. We hear snippets of the grandparents' fate. Men in uniform. This godforsaken poverty.

”In “Mo Mamma”, Mamma and the history buried deep in the heart reveal themselves as memories. These are images of the muffled pain, reconciliation and moments of happiness that are passed down through the generations in the life-carrying trinity of one grandmother, mother and daughter.

Elise Jagomägi