- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
"My mother's leaving me was the first wound."
That's a quote from the leading lady
in tonight's documentary A Mother Apart,
a film that follows one woman's journey
as she encounters many wounds over her life
as she tries repeatedly to connect with the woman
who abandoned her when she was a child.
Staceyann Chin is an internationally-renowned
Jamaican-American poet, playwright,
and LGBTQ-plus activist.
She is also a single mother
who tries her best to raise her daughter
without having the benefit of a role model.
Chin's mother Hazel abandoned her at a young age.
To make this family situation even more complicated,
not only did Hazel leave,
she started a new family shortly after leaving
and moving to Montreal.
In addition to abandonment,
Chin has experienced sexual abuse
and losing a spouse, along with the emotional scars
from a mother disinterested in parenting.
To Chin, however, motherhood is something
she has fiercely embraced while raising her daughter Zuri,
who is about the same age Chin was
when her mother, Hazel, left.
Even though she is physically present in Zuri's life,
Staceyann has to overcome her emotional distance
that is always hovering over her.
Despite all of this, Chin has spent a good part of her life
trying to forge some type of bond with her mother.
She knows they will never have a conventional relationship,
but Staceyann wants to at least recognize Hazel's place
in the family, a remarkably mature and courageous approach
given the pain she has caused.
It's this vulnerability in Chin that allows her to heal.
Her mother has lived in several different places,
many of which Chin visited in an attempt to stay connected.
The film also follows Chin's efforts
to build a relationship with a sister
who is 16 years younger than her.
This is the feature film directorial debut
for director Laurie Townshend.
Townshend says she found the project when she met Staceyann
after reading her 2009 memoir
and meeting her at a book signing.
She says they connected while discussing motherhood
and the shared experience of being queer daughters
of Jamaican mothers.
Townshend says she is in awe of her leading lady
and her attributes of generosity and forgiveness
in the face of such emotional baggage.
Laurie Townshend knew she had a star in her subject,
a pillar of resilience after the events in her life.
Townshend also took full advantage of the fact
that Chin is a performer and storyteller as well,
using footage of Staceyann's live performances
as a spoken word artist
and highlighting her work as an activist.
To tell this complex story of Staceyann
as she tries to heal three generations,
Townshend uses vivid animation and archival footage
along with the interviews
and the charismatic personality of Chin
to make the story a gripping watch.
Let's all sit down in our favorite chairs
and check out this film that has won several awards,
including an Emerging Documentary Jury Award
right here in Wisconsin at the Milwaukee Film Festival.
A Mother Apart starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.