Earth Mama

A single mother in Oakland navigates the foster care system while making a living at a family portrait studio in this intimate coming-of-age story. Based on lived experiences from SFFILM-supported writer-director Savanah Leaf, the film follows Gia (Tia Nomore), who warily sizes up her surroundings and would-be allies as she prepares for another child. In this drama made by a Bay Area crew, preconceptions of women with children in foster care are carefully examined and discarded, as Leaf presents a tender, textured, and surprisingly funny portrait of motherhood.