| Bush Mama | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Haile Gerima |
| Starring | Barbarao, Johnny Weathers |
Release date | 1979 |
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Bush Mama is an American film made by Ethiopian-American director Haile Gerima, part of the L.A. Rebellion movement of political and experimental black cinema in the 1970s. It was released in 1979 though made earlier, in 1975.[1]
The film was made by Gerima as his thesis project at the University of California at Los Angeles, shot on a small budget. It was directed, produced and edited by Gerima with cinematography by Roderick Young and Charles Burnett.[2]
The first half is filmed in a cinema vérité style, making heavy use of improvisation, while the second half moves away from naturalism towards a Godardian agit prop approach.[3]
Bush Mama is the story of Dorothy and her husband T.C. He is a discharged Vietnam veteran who thought he would return home to a "hero's welcome." Instead, he is falsely arrested and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Her life revolves around the welfare office and a community facing poverty and unemployment. As a result of the film's events, both the main characters become radicalized and Dorothy eventually turns to violence.
The film received "wide critical acclaim" and was "showcased at many major international film festivals."[4] The New York Times called it "fiery, furious, overflowing with rhetoric and slightly out of breath", praising the main actors but saying the director's fierce polemic sometime overwhelms the dramatic aspects of the film.[5] In 2022, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress deeming it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."[6][7]