Hi everyone, Bryan here….

This new documentary called Motherland looks great and follows the busiest maternity ward in the world in one of the poorest cities in the world. The film will open on September 22nd in Los Angeles and be available in more cities in the coming weeks. Enjoy the trailer.

MOTHERLAND, a mesmerizing cinema verité doc transports viewers to the busiest maternity ward in the world- Fabella Hospital in Manila, Phillipines.  It averages 60 births a day—and at its peak, as many as 100 babies within a 24-hour period.  Fabella Hospital is the final safety net for very poor pregnant women, most of whom cannot afford either contraception or the $60 delivery fee.  Most single beds are occupied by two, or even three women at a time due to lack of resources and nurses struggle to control the chaos as best they can.  In a hospital that is literally bursting with life, we witness the miracle and wonder of the human condition.

Ramona S. Diaz’s documentary MOTHERLAND –  winner of World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Commanding Vision at Sundance has been set for theatrical release beginning September 8th in New York at the Cinema Village and will open on September 22 in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Monica Film Center, with a national rollout to follow.  The acclaimed film is being released by The Film Collaborative in partnership with CineDiaz and Kidlat Productions.

MOTHERLAND takes us into the heart of the planet’s busiest maternity hospital in one of the world’s poorest and most populous countries: the Philippines. The film’s viewer, like an unseen outsider dropped unobtrusively into the hospital’s stream of activity, passes through hallways, enters rooms and listens in on conversations. At first, the surrounding people are strangers, but as the film continues, it’s absorbingly intimate, rendering the women at the heart of the story increasingly familiar. In a hospital that is literally bursting with life, we witness the miracle and wonder of the human condition.

Diaz, a veteran documentarian began filming in the search of a story on reproductive justice, visited the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, Philippines.  As the busiest maternity ward in the world, it averages 60 births a day—and at its peak, as many as 100 babies within a 24-hour period.  Fabella Hospital is the final safety net for very poor pregnant women, most of whom cannot afford either contraception or the $60 delivery fee. 

Immersing the viewer with a fly on the wall cinema verité approach, Diaz shares her experience of finding her story:   “The images I saw at the hospital  – the nurses who did their best to tame the noisy chaos of Emergency Room arrivals, the crowded corridors, the premature births and cramped recovery rooms with double occupancy of single beds – gripped me and wouldn’t let go.  It was soon evident that the story I was looking for, a story about reproductive justice and maternal and women’s rights, unfolded within the hospital wall.”