''Big Mama'' is a 2000 short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

by American

Tracy Seretean Tracy Seretean is an American filmmaker who directed and co-produced ''Big Mama'' (2000), which won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. She also produced ''The Third Monday in October'' (2006). See also *''Big Mama (film) ''Big ...

. It chronicles the struggle of 89-year-old Viola Dees (1908-2000) and her fight to retain custody of her grandson. It illustrates many of the difficulties facing an increasing number of the grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in the United States today, because of family crises related to drugs and prison. It was shown on HBO and won an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for

Best Documentary Short Subject This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

Synopsis

The film follows 18 months in the life of Viola Dees (89 years old) as she tries to persuade Los Angeles authorities that she can care for her grandson, 9-year-old Walter. Born to a drug-addicted mother, Walter was put into foster care. Dees gained his release to her care when he was age four. By then he was very disturbed, traumatized by the early death of his father and the disappearance of his mother. But he appeared bright and sweetly loving to his grandmother. The film focuses on the continuous battle against age discrimination faced by Dees and many like her. While contending with her own declining health, and a bureaucratic and legal system that continually threatened to separate her from her grandson, Dees fights the misconception that age supersedes one's ability to love and care for a child. The film follows the family as they deal with several blows. Dees suffers a heart attack, provoking hostile and disturbed behavior from Walter. He burned a magazine in his bedroom, which resulted in a house fire, destroying their home. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where the doctors determined that Dees was no longer able to handle her grandson. They would not release him to her until she agreed to place him in long-term residential care. After a challenging search, Walter is accepted at an appropriate facility and thrives during his year there. However, when treatment was completed, social workers determined that Dees was too frail to care for him, and Walter was placed again in a foster home. Walter's aunts and uncles were unable to take him in, possibly because they felt unqualified to deal with his often threatening and troubled behavior.'Big Mama': Love That Knows No Age - The Washington Post
/ref>

Awards and nominations

* 2001 Winner,

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

* 2001 Winner,

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

, Crystal Heart Award * 2001 Winner,

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

, Golden Gate Award

References

External links

* *
''Big Mama''
at

California Newsreel California Newsreel, was founded in 1968 as the San Francisco branch of the national film making collective Newsreel. It is an American non-profit, social justice film distribution and production company still based in San Francisco, California. Th ...

{{AcademyAwardDocumentaryShort 1981-2000 Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners American short documentary films 2000 films Children's rights in the United States 2000 short documentary films Documentary films about old age Documentary films about women Documentary films about African Americans 2000s English-language films 2000s American films