4 Films on Motherhood Stories | Cinemaworld
Mothers—often our first contact with the world and the people who raised us—yet they can remain an enigma to their own children. Before motherhood, before the sleepless nights, the countless tears, laughter, and boundless love, who was she?
This Mother’s Day, CinemaWorld is spotlighting four films that explore the intricacies of motherhood and the women who have been hidden beneath that title. From stories of mothers struggling to be anchors for their families to their journeys of self-discovery, join us as we celebrate mothers around the world.
1. What’s For Dinner, Mom? (2016)
Japan
What’s For Dinner, Mom? takes you on a heart-warming journey from Japan to the bustling streets of Taiwan, where a mother’s past life and secrets are revealed. When sisters Tae and Yo return to their old house, which is soon to be demolished, they find a mysterious red box buried among old family mementos. Inside, they uncover stacks of recipes and letters, carefully handwritten by their mother who had passed on 20 years ago.
In these recipes and letters, their mother’s past begins to unravel—from her struggle leaving her home in Japan to build a new life in Taiwan, the death of her Taiwanese husband, to her difficult battle with cancer. Urged to trace her mother’s footsteps, Tae travels to Taiwan, where she reminisces about the dishes her mother had made for the family and the mystery of her past life.
2. Lemonade (2018)
Romania, Canada, Germany
Lemonade is the award-winning debut feature from Romanian director Ioana Uricaru. Inspired by real events, this tense social drama explores the bitter reality behind the American Dream and the lengths a mother will go to for her child’s future.
The film follows Mara, a 30-year-old nurse from Romania working in the United States as a caretaker on a temporary visa. Life finally seems to have fallen into place after she marries an American and brings her young son, Dragos, over to join her. However, the cracks in this impossible dream begin to show during her green-card application, where Mara finds herself at the mercy of a self-righteous immigration officer.
Faced with abuses of power at every turn, Mara is forced to confront a difficult question: how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? An Official Selection at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival, the film takes a harrowing look at institutional injustice and the resilience of mothers who must navigate such prejudiced systems.
3. Pari (2020)
Greece, France, Netherlands
Director Siamak Etemadi’s debut feature, Pari, is a story of a mother’s rebirth. Its title inspired by the director’s own mother’s name, the film follows an Iranian mother’s journey into an unfamiliar world.
When Pari’s son, Babak, who has been studying abroad in Greece, fails to welcome his visiting parents at the Athens airport, Pari and her husband are sent on a wild goose chase in search of him. Both devout Muslims away from home for the first time, the foreign streets of Athens are a labyrinth of intimidation. All leads on his whereabouts seem to reach a dead end, but to Pari, giving up is not an option.
An Official Selection (Panorama, World Premiere) at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, Germany in 2020, this Iranian tense drama has at its core a mother’s unfaltering love.
4. With Or Without You (2024)
Australia
With Or Without You is the poignant feature debut from Kelly Schilling, inspired by the director’s own lived experience
While Chloe loves her mother, Sharon, the reality of their bond is fraught. As a free-spirited alcoholic who cannot look after herself without falling into trouble, Sharon leaves Chloe caught in a relentless cycle, torn between the desire to finally live for herself and the desperate need to save her mother from the claws of temptation.
The breaking point arrives when Chloe's ex-boyfriend sets her caravan ablaze, reducing her worldly possessions to ashes. This catastrophe forces a new beginning, as Chloe sets out on a journey with her mother, though a chance encounter with a charming West African man named Dalu adds another lost soul in search of escape to the trip.
As they navigate the countryside, the trio face a series of misconceptions and wrong turns. Mingled with humour, passion, and pain, the journey eventually leads to hope and healing.
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