A young woman’s doubt begins to consume her before she meets the adoptive parents of her unborn child.

Director’s Statement

Maternal was a team effort from the beginning. Living on opposite coasts, Anamari and Kevin texted throughout the summer coming up with an idea they could film when we were in the same city.

Surrogacy and Adoption were topics that immediately interested us. We were really able to bring both our perspectives to create the story.

We see surrogacy and adoption as an incredibly giving act, no matter what the circumstance may be. Kevin’s younger sister is adopted and every once in a while, the thought of her birth mother pops into his head. We were struck by the fact that a woman could carry a baby for nine months, give birth, and then be able to let go and fulfill her promise of giving the child over.

We decided it was best to approach our lead character as vulnerable and alone, someone lost in their own thoughts, and from that foundation, our film expanded organically.

We had no strict script and allowed the locations, costumes and conversations on set help guide us. The inclusion of animation and a nightmare sequence were set from the beginning, but what they were going to convey came later on in post-production. The aesthetic of a super8 camera came to us early on. It would be a tool to keep us focused on filming and not reviewing footage, as well as inject some style on our limited budget. Also, the limitations of only 4 rolls (about 12 minutes of footage) kept us selective with our shots.

In recent times surrogacy is becoming a more trending topic and yet, the perspective of the surrogate is oftentimes overlooked and underrepresented. We created this film to hopefully start a conversation about women in these situations and we plan to expand the story into a feature film that begins at meeting the adoptive parents.