Big Mama

Winner of the 2001 Oscar for Best Documentary Short, filmmaker Tracy Seretean's Big Mama--shot over an 18-month period in South Central Los Angeles--offers a cinema-vérité look at 89-year-old African-American Viola Dees' attempts to maintain custody over her 9-year-old grandson Walter, consigned to foster care after his father (Viola's son) died and he was abandoned by his drug-addicted mother. Arguing that "age has nothing to do with love," Viola convinces skeptical authorities to allow her to raise Walter, who was exposed to crack in utero and is, behaviorally speaking, erratic at best, and occasionally dangerous. Over the year and a half of the film, Viola suffers a heart attack, Walter burns down the house, and the pair come to terms with the youth entering Vista del Mar, a group residential home catering to disturbed but salvageable children. A specific illustration of a larger problem--today, two million grandchildren are being raised by grandparents--Big Mama offers neither advice nor solutions; it simply documents one story (and, to be honest, there is the nagging sense that Walter is occasionally acting out for the camera). Ultimately, however, the film's powerful moments--illustrations of Dees' obvious love and concern for her wayward charge; Walter's heartbreaking avoidance behavior in the face of emotional trauma; Vista del Mar's admissions director Ruth Wildhorn's unflagging optimistic spirit--help elevate this technically unremarkable effort, which is immeasurably bolstered by Bobby McFerrin's wonderfully evocative score. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)