Through narration and archival footage, the documentary Mother Suriname, from director Tessa Leuwsha, details the complex and often overlooked history of the former Dutch colony through the story of Leuwsha’s grandmother, Fancelyne Cummings, and other Surinamese women like her. Premiering on June 9, Mother Suriname will be followed by The Changing Same by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster. A documentary short, The Changing Same captures the story of Marianna, Florida resident and poet L. Lamar Wilson as he mounts a marathon run in an attempt to call further attention to a 1934 lynching of a Black farmhand named Claude Neal.
Mother Suriname launches a new and exciting season of AfroPoP which will include documentary and narrative films. This season’s lineup also includes Neptune Frost, an Afrofuturistic musical co-directed by actor-poet-musician Saul Williams (who can currently be seen in the blockbuster Sinners) and Anisia Uzeyman; Tongo Saa (Rising Up at Night), an award-winning documentary by Nelson Makengo about residents in the Democratic Republic of Congo fighting to survive amidst the uneven distribution of electricity; and a special encore presentation of filmmaker Luchina Fisher’s Mama Gloria, a powerful documentary tracing the trailblazing life of transgender activist Gloria Allen.
Check out the season trailer here: https://youtu.be/KFILKjoU-VU.
