Aftershock, from directors Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, which won the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change upon its debut there last month has been acquired by Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News. The documentary film will stream on Hulu in the U.S., on Star+ in Latin America, and on Disney+ in all other territories.
Aftershock spotlights the alarmingly disproportionate number of Black women that are failed every year by the U.S. maternal health system. Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac were vibrant, excited mothers-to-be whose deaths due to childbirth complications were preventable. Now, their partners and families are determined to sound a rallying cry around this chilling yet largely ignored crisis.
Eiselt and Lee follow Gibson’s and Isaac’s bereaved partners, Omari Maynard and Bruce McIntyre, respectively, as they fight for justice and build communities of support, bonding especially with other surviving Black fathers. Their tragic, individual experiences are punctuated with condemning historical context, showing that gynecology has a long-standing history of exploiting and neglecting Black women in America. Aftershock brings an unsettling reality to the forefront while uplifting the families, activists, and birth workers who are striving to bring institutional change and legislative reform.
“We are thrilled to partner with Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News to honor and uplift the lives of Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac,” added Eiselt and Lee. “We hope audiences will be as inspired and empowered as we are by their families’ trailblazing work to ensure the best birthing outcomes for all Americans.”
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