Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing will release Bantú Mama, the official selection of the Dominican Republic for the 95th Academy Awards on Netflix on November 17, 2022.
In the film directed by Ivan Herrera, and starring Clarisse Albrecht, Scarlet Reyes, Euris Javiel, along with Arturo Perez, a French-Cameroonian woman running from a drug deal gone wrong in the Dominican Republic finds shelter with three young siblings.
Bantú Mama made its World Premiere at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, in addition to being screened at BFI London Film Festival and Urbanworld; and garnering awards at Durban International Film Festival, Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale, 47/Festival de Huelva, Festival de Cine Fine Arts, Nova Frontier Film Festival, and Quibdó África Film Festival.
In Bantú Mama, a French woman of African descent manages to escape after being arrested in the Dominican Republic. She finds shelter in the most dangerous district of Santo Domingo, where she is taken in by a group of children. By becoming their protégée and maternal figure, she experiences an unimaginable change in her destiny.
Watch the teaser trailer for Bantú Mama.