What's it like at the busiest maternity ward in the world?
Filmmaker Ramona Diaz explains what makes Fabella Hospital unique.
How does an underfunded hospital care for premature babies?
Filmmaker Ramona Diaz on how Kangaroo Mother Care is used in a Filipino maternity ward.
What challenges did you face while making your film?
Director Mike Day recounts filming in harsh conditions with complicated logistics.
Why is family planning important in the Philippines?
Filmmaker Ramona Diaz discusses the challenges of family planning education.
Why is whale hunting important to the Faroe Islanders?
Mike Day on the complexities of whale hunting & food sustainability in the Faroe Islands.
Mike Day on the local impact of global pollution
Director Mike Day discusses the dangers of being disconnected from nature.
Motherland: Family Planning
We see a counselor discussing birth control options with a couple of different mothers. Options are determined by circumstance. Women with only one child are not permitted to choose tubal ligation, and pills or injections are contraindicated for women who are breastfeeding. IUDs are recommended to several women. One young woman resists because her mother opposes birth control. Another expresses fe
Motherland: Dads
Visiting fathers hold their babies against their bodies, a method for keeping the premature infants warm because the hospital doesn't have incubators. They talk about the expenses of having a sick baby and their lack of basics at home, like electricity and running water.
Motherland: Fabella Memorial Hospital
The clip provides an initial feel of hospital conditions and introduces Lea. The clip also shows that patients are expected to provide their own blankets in the hospital.
Motherland: Family Planning Continued
A nurse tries to convince a resistant teen mother to get an IUD. The clip also touches on the issue of domestic violence.
Motherland: Unemployed Husbands
As Lea talks with another mother about how her husband doesn't have the 35 cents for transportation, we learn that she is 25 years old, already has a two year old, can't afford diapers for her premature newborn twins, and must breast feed because she can't afford milk.
The Islands and The Whales: Mercury
As he is examining a young local man (who participates in the grind) Dr. Pál Weihe, Head of the Faroe Islands Department of Public Health, explains that the mercury in the food chain comes largely from electricity used by people and places far from the Islands. He also discusses why it's hard to persuade people that they must stop eating whale.
The Islands and The Whales: Disbelief
An elder explains why he doesn't believe the claims that the whale meat is contaminated with mercury. Dr. Weihe understands why it is difficult to accept something that they can't readily see, but cautions about the damage if they wait too long to act (to officially outlaw whale meat).
The Islands and The Whales: The Sea Shepherd
Anti-whaling activists, including Baywatch's Pamela Anderson, explain why they are trying to stop the grind. They insist that they aren't trying to undermine Faroese culture; they are only trying to protect a sentient mammal species. They are challenged by locals, who note that their climate doesn't allow for much agricultural production, so they can't easily follow the suggestion to eat less meat
The Islands and The Whales: The Questions
Panelists make several strong statements and ask important questions: "One day in the future our children will ask us, why didn't you stop? Why did it have to come so far, that the world condemns us and our children get sick?... Not taking action would be unfair, to the thousands of children we've tested."
Motherland: Trailer
Motherland is an absorbingly intimate, vérité look at the busiest maternity hospital in the world, in one of the poorest and most populous countries: the Philippines. Women share their stories with other mothers, their families, doctors and social workers. In a hospital that is literally bursting with life, we witness the miracle/wonder of the human condition.
Swim Team: Is Swim Team a film about autism?
Filmmaker Lara Stolman shares lessons learned from making Swim Team.
Swim Team: Why does this small town swim team matter?
Filmmaker Lara Stolman explains why the Jersey Hammerheads swim team is so unique.
Swim Team: Behind the Lens: Robbie Learns he's Autistic
Filmmaker Lara Stolman tells why she included the scene where Robbie learns he has Autism.
The Islands and The Whales: Trailer
On the isolated North Atlantic archipelago of the Faroe Islands, the longtime hunting practices of the Faroese are threatened by dangerously high mercury levels in the whales, decimated seabird populations and anti-whaling activists. The Faroe islanders consider themselves a canary in the mine, their tale a warning to the rest of the world.
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