2013 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Andrew Dosunmu’s Ma’ George

With all the support Andrew Dosunmu’s Ma’ George received from the Sundance Institute, I think it’s time for the delivery. Known in the labs/formerly titled as “Mother of George,” this 2005 Directors Lab, 2005 January Screenwriters Lab, 2006 Annenberg Film Fellowship Grant and more recently, 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute Grant recipient technically would have been Dosunmu’s feature fiction debut project, but Restless City (Sundance ’11) came to fruition and ended up being a bijou in the NEXT section at the fest, and after showcasing that film last year (including the AFI Fest – where we sat down with the helmer), financing and a cast (including Isaach De Bankolé) firmly in place meant that production began and is now firmly in post-production phase. Dosunmu’s savvy Restless City cinematographer Bradford Young once again helps with the cityscape lensing with the RED, and Danai Gurira (Restless City) and drop dead gorgeous Yaya DaCosta (The Kids Are All Right) topline.

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.

Prod Co./Producers: Cunningham & Maybach Films’ Patrick Cunningham and Chris Maybach, Parts and Labor’s Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, Carly Hugo and Matthew Parker

Prediction: U.S. Dramatic Competition section.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available