There was a supreme irony to the scheduling of Visions Du Réel Film "Super Mom ". The 16:00 Monday screening (and the only one that week and on a school day) could possibly not have been a worse time for any mothers interested in watching it. Despite this, I sent a quick email to the mothers that I knew, telling them about the documentary. However it led to the unsurprising fact that most of them couldn't make it. They were too busy being super moms themselves either helping children with homework, picking children up from school or driving them to sports practices, or they were at work. Those that did make it, were a mum who had sneaked a guilty "hour away", a mum who had teenagers who could look after themselves and an American friend interested in the portrayal of her country.
Nevertheless there was a full audience at the Salle de Colombière on Monday afternoon, all interested in director Sarah Klein's movie.
The premise; candidates from different states in the U.S.A in preparation for the national final round of "Young Mother of the Year". Criteria for eligibility stated that they must be "married to a man, belong to a religious community and demonstrate a heightened commitment to her children". Hillary Clinton was once Super Mother of Arkansas. The film charted the progress of each contestant and filmed their story. We saw them preparing food for their children, praying with their children, looking after them, organising a complicated schedule of after school activities.
All of the mothers took the application process very seriously. We saw them getting their husbands to time their competition speeches down to the last second, to carefully packing their suitcases to attend the final in Nebraska. Some packed with elegant clothes, " I don't like to wear sweats unless I'm going to the gym." Others were more casual. There were some superb close up shots on detail, the fridge magnets in one home with photos of each child and the slogan "Look at me, I'm drug free!" The camera panning in on a calorie laden meal of fried chicken in one house to preparation of elegant Chicken Piccata in another. There were some great quotes too, on asked why she was entering the contest, one mum said "How often do you get a pat on the back for
being a mom?".
And then they went to Nebraska. The competition loomed and these mothers, although they were looking forward to a few nights of uninterrupted sleep - a bit of "me" time, they couldn't relax. They were being judged by anonymous judges, they were being tested on their speaking skills, they were on show. During these three days they were also "entertained", by mature women in leotards high kicking and dancing, by the singing of State songs, and for some bizarre reason, by an inflatable doll dressed in dungarees.
When it came to the final I imagine the whole audience wanted Tonia, the working class mother to win. The one who opened her heart to the camera, the one who had had a child when she was young and had to let own her mother bring her up. She was the underdog in class sense but she shone through top of her class in her sincerity. The woman who did win from New Hampshire was smooth, polished, and efficient. She also smiled very little, so little, a member of the jury had to ask her "Aren't you happy you won ?" The jury implied they had chosen her because she had made the momentous and admirable decision to leave a high powered job to look after her children (she had previously worked in Human Resources responsible for 1,000 people) so she really deserved the "supermom" prize.
Yet this film made one wonder if the winner's new title wasn't just a substitute position for the top job she had left. By the end of the film she was talking about possibly putting herself foward for public office.
It's the discussions held after these films that can often prove to be the most interesting part of this festival. There were members of the audience who said they felt guilty at laughing at the perfect, middle class mothers because after all "we are probably all middle class here".
There were others who were horrified at the food some of the mothers cooked for their family, "how can they be a supermom when they serve such disgusting food?", and one man in the audience bemoaned the fact that not once in the film was sex mentioned by any of the mothers. How on earth this could have been part of the judging process or qualifying criteria beggars belief. The same people who were complaining about the stereotypes of American women were playing up to their own European stereo-types. I was suprised no-one expressed shock at the mother who had all her children safetly strapped in car seats but continued to use her mobile phone phone while driving. Some in the audience were surprised that that at no stage did the judges see these women in-situ in their own home and with their children, surely a crucial part of any judging process. The music and sound on this film were excellent, other touches such as the credits and explanatory titles against a backround of flowery, homely wall paper were sublime. It must be hard for a director to sit in a room and face criticism after a film, one comment made from the discussion panel was that the film was "too polished". I disagree entirely. Having sat though many good films this week, but also some that were a) far too long b) far too pretentious or c) the subject matter not being evident until until half way though the documentary, it was refreshing to watch a film that was clear, concise and had a definite beginning, middle and end. An old fashioned concept perhaps, but so welcome. Even more so for a busy mother who loves documentaries, but is very short on time.