Teen Mothers

Filmmakers Sandra Werneck and Gisela Camara's Teen Mothers documents the explosion in teen pregnancies in Brazil, focusing on four low-income adolescents aged 13-15, who face the physical, emotional, and social consequences on the journey from pregnancy to early motherhood. Exhibiting both balance and style, the film conjures up a sometimes soapy, true-life telenovela that draws on some of the more sensational details of the girls' lives, including petty jealousies, irresponsible boyfriends, illicit encounters, and distraught parents. Evelin, the youngest, discovers she's pregnant on her 13th birthday by her ex-drug dealer boyfriend; Luana, 15, has helped her single mother raise younger sisters and now wants a baby of her own; and newly-pregnant Edilene, 14, discovers that her boyfriend Alex, 21, is about to have a baby with another girl in town named Joice, who is 15. But Werneck and Camara also pay careful attention to the complex nature of the underlying socio-cultural reality: teen pregnancy can serve as a convenient shortcut to adulthood that stands to earn a young woman more respect and recognition in the community, a maddeningly naive attitude that is contrasted here with the more sober reflections of the girls' parents and the stark reality of their economic situation in the homes and streets of Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shanty towns). An intimate yet dispassionate look at the social and cultural implications of adolescent pregnancy in Latin America, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)