Across the world, COVID-19 has pregnant families reassessing their birth plans and questioning whether homebirth is a safer option. Abbas wanted to prove the safety and show the beauty of homebirths far before this pandemic. Egyptian-American filmmaker Sam Abbas along with frequent collaborator Cinematographer Soledad Rodríguez (Pendular, History of Fear, The Good Intentions) had the opportunity to document the homebirth of Marie Brewer on May 17th 2019, where Marie gave birth to a tiny little human, Liv, after a long 63 hours of labor. This is the second homebirth both Abbas and Rodríguez shot (The first was for Alia’s Birth, his upcoming feature film -
which THR had announced).
Marie, released via Instagram’s
IGTV, was originally booked to play theatrically in NY 4/3/20 to 4/9/20. With the Academy’s new rules for the 2021’s edition, the film is eligible for consideration.
Marie is a film that proves Sam Abbas an auteur.
Abbas explains “With this documentary I really wanted to focus on the labor aspect of homebirths and how it really is a marathon versus the unfortunate-incorrect portrayal in almost every film. My goal was to invite everyone to re-examine the practices in regards to the art, body, and struggles of the current homebirth movement. This documentary is a tool I created to help the continuous work of destigmatizing the natural and non-intervened way of homebirths. It is very important to push out all the politically-driven misconceptions that have been fed to us for many years now, especially in the United States, and bring births back into the hands of women comfortably in their homes. Marie’s long journey of labor with her small selected team and husband was nothing short of extraordinary. This special and sacred event I was invited to will be something I will never forget; it really feels like another family I am now a part of.”
Abbas recently released
Rusted Caravaggios via Deadline in July about the first public invitation to the Louvre Museum (Monday July 6, 2020) following an unprecedented four month closure and has two features to premiere. Alia’s Birth was announced as a theatrical experience that will not be played outside of theatres.
While his major collaboration with top cinematographers, Erēmīta Anthologies, is on track to be completed later this winter.
