Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #59. Andrew Dosunmu’s Mother of George

Mother of George

Director: Andrew Dosunmu
Writer(s): Darci Picoult
Producer(s): Cunningham & Maybach Films’ Patrick Cunningham and Chris Maybach, Parts and Labor’s Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, Carly Hugo and Matthew Parker
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi

I considered myself a fan of Andrew Dosunmu’s work precisely about ten minutes into his debut feature, Restless City. Workshopped at the 2005 Directors and Screenwriters Labs, it’s been a long time coming for what is his sophomore feature, Mother of George. Examining the interconnectedness between family and home both past and present, I’m thinking that his second collaboration with cinematographer Bradford Young might offer a better visual and narrative balance and a rich tapestry highlighting the immigrant experience. Auteur cinema’s Isaach De Bankolé toplines alongside Danai Gurira.

Gist: Co-written with Darci Picoult, Ayodele Balogen (Isaach De Bankolé) owns a small African restaurant in Brooklyn. His fiancée, Adenike Matashane, has waited six years to start a new life with Ayo in the US. Ayo and Adenike have a traditional Basotho wedding, culminating in a ceremony where Adenike is named for her yet to be conceived son, George. But as months pass, Ma George’s pregnancy attempts fail and her loneliness intensifies. Torn between her Basotho culture and new life in America, Ma George struggles to save her marriage, stopping at no cost to give Ayo his much-awaited son.

Release Date: Sundance Film Festival included the film in its U.S. Dramatic Comp – it should be picked up from a distinctly indie company and will be shown a little everywhere on the festival circuit.