A Mother’s Grief

A Mother’s Grief

60 minutes • Documentary • Produced in association with: CBC • Production year: 1997

A Mother’s Grief deals with an issue that our society prefers to avoid or cover-up. This one-hour documentary follows a support group for mothers struggling to deal with the unthinkable – the death of a child.

In the support group, we meet courageous women of various ages and backgrounds. As the film moves on, they are bound together by their shared sense of loss. We meet Karen, whose daughter Kara was struck down by a hit and run driver and whose story made front pages; Bev, who never thought she would survive her son Russell’s suicide; Lesley, whose daughter Alison’s abduction, rape and murder made national headlines; Darlene, whose adult son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed suicide by jumping in front of a subway train; Dorothy, who in a 10 week period lost two of her adult children to drugs; and Maureen, who lost two toddlers in a car accident.

A Mother’s Grief is sensitive and passionate. It is a story of women who have the courage to reveal their insights and pain. In exploring these mothers’ struggle with death, we take away unforgettable lessons of life.

Directed by: Karen Shopsowitz
Producers: Elliot Halpern, Simcha Jacobovici and Marike Emery

Award Highlights

• Staff Education Award, First Aquarius Productions/New England Loss & Transitional Film Festival
• Bronze Apple, National Educational Media Award

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