Coming soon
Mother cake
for us to be born, a placenta must die.
a short documentary by Stephanie Schiavenato about the afterlife of the afterbirth.
Please consider making a tax deductible donation to help the completion of this film.
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Mother Cake offers a rare glimpse into the life and death of the placenta, the organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy and provides life sustaining nourishment to a growing baby.
Equipped with 6 placentas and a camera, a filmmaker-doula sets out to give the body’s most enigmatic organ the close-up it deserves. We all began with a placenta, yet few of us ever think about it again. What begins as a search for the perfect shot of this strange and remarkable organ becomes an unexpected exploration of the people who continue to care about the afterbirth long after its biological work is done. From a mail carrier who spends her free time encapsulating placentas to a Brooklyn mother preparing to bury the placenta she has kept frozen for years, the film traces the surprising afterlife of an organ essential to survival. Mother Cake is a cinematic exploration of an organ designed to be temporary—and the enduring connections, acts of care, and forms of interdependence it leaves behind.
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mother cake
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