MOTHER & BABY
a short documentary
Discarded in death as they were in life.
Ishka Films presents MOTHER & BABY - a short documentary by Mia Mullarkey
I saw Mia's latest short documentary ‘Mother & Baby’ when it premiered at the Cork Film Festival last year. The film depicts the horror of Ireland’s mother and baby homes and is a really important piece of work. When the credits rolled, I remember feeling a palpable sense of appreciation from the audience for the warmth and maturity of Mia's storytelling.
Frank Berry, writer/ director of Michael Inside
MOTHER & BABY had it's world premiere at Cork International Film Festival 2017 where it was awarded Best Short Documentary. Following this the film was awarded Best Irish Short at Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018, and director Mia Mullarkey received the Discovery Award.
This short documentary is a poetic and psychological portrayal of survival. From 1904 to 1996 children of unwed mothers in Ireland were raised in Mother & Baby Homes run by Catholic nuns. In these homes the child mortality rate was staggeringly high and a secret mass grave containing 796 infant remains was discovered in one of the homes. After many years of research, local woman Catherine Corless disclosed the story of the home in Tuam to the world.
Revealing the children's perspectives, including powerful archive recordings, and portraying the discovery of 796 infant remains, this documentary offers a painful yet cathartic insight into the cruel business of Irish Mother & Baby Homes. MOTHER & BABY bears witness to three of the 35,000 Home Children; Peter, Pat and Carmel, who were forcibly separated from their mothers and eventually fostered out. The documentary also follows Catherine's work in bringing the truth to light.
Frank Berry, writer/ director of Michael Inside
MOTHER & BABY had it's world premiere at Cork International Film Festival 2017 where it was awarded Best Short Documentary. Following this the film was awarded Best Irish Short at Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018, and director Mia Mullarkey received the Discovery Award.
This short documentary is a poetic and psychological portrayal of survival. From 1904 to 1996 children of unwed mothers in Ireland were raised in Mother & Baby Homes run by Catholic nuns. In these homes the child mortality rate was staggeringly high and a secret mass grave containing 796 infant remains was discovered in one of the homes. After many years of research, local woman Catherine Corless disclosed the story of the home in Tuam to the world.
Revealing the children's perspectives, including powerful archive recordings, and portraying the discovery of 796 infant remains, this documentary offers a painful yet cathartic insight into the cruel business of Irish Mother & Baby Homes. MOTHER & BABY bears witness to three of the 35,000 Home Children; Peter, Pat and Carmel, who were forcibly separated from their mothers and eventually fostered out. The documentary also follows Catherine's work in bringing the truth to light.
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Contributors:
Catherine Corless Carmel Larkin Peter Mulryan Pat Duffy Kathleen Mulryan Sadie Cramer Credits: Writer/ Director: Mia Mullarkey Producer: Alice McDowell Cinematographer: Aidan Maguire Composer: Anna Mullarkey Additional Cinematography: Kevin Minogue Editor: Mirjam Strugalla Sound Mixer: Simon Murphy Re-Recording Mixer and Sound Editor: Peter Blayney Colourist: Donal O'Kane Photographer: Maurice Gunning Musicians: Anna Mullarkey & Juliana Erkkonen Music Mastering Engineer: Liam King Online: Warren Dowling Executive Producer: Emma Scott Shorts Co-ordinator: Jill McGregor Project Managers: Mary Callery & Keith Potter Production Company: Ishka Films Post-Production Company: Screen Scene Funder: Irish Film Board |
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Director's Statement:
This short documentary, funded by the Irish Film Board, brings us into the world of children who were taken from their unwed mothers, something which occurred on a nationwide scale in Ireland. Having spent time with Catherine Corless, the woman who uncovered the story and grew up beside the Tuam Home, I became interested in the emotional landscape of the children living in the home. As people who were stolen from their mothers and seen as outcasts by their peers and carers, I hoped to enter the inner world of those survivors during that time. Alongside this portrayal is Catherine’s story, that of a tireless woman who fought for years to give voice to those 796 children who passed away unceremoniously. |
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