Social Impact
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Medical Association (AMA), America has the highest maternal mortality rate of any industrialized country. Black women are 3x more likely to die during childbirth than white women.
Hatchlings is an urgent film that explores the rippling effects of this maternal mortality crisis. It is told through the eyes of the children who are impacted– who often feel isolated, adrift, or must grow up quickly to care for younger siblings.
Director’s Statement
Hatchlings is a personal story; an ode to care, connection, and family.
In 2007, I had just started undergrad when I received a call that my close cousin, Akira had died during childbirth. My mother adopted Akira’s daughter and since then, she has been my little sister. As a teenager, my sister began to withdraw from the family. She confided in me that she isolated herself because she felt like she didn’t belong.
2019 brought déjà vu. I received another call, this time as an MFA Directing student at UCLA. Akira’s sister, Kassie, had died during childbirth. They both suffered from preeclampsia, a highly treatable common risk factor that is often missed in Black women’s pregnancies. In my search for answers, I learned that America is currently experiencing a maternal health crisis. Two high-profile examples are Beyoncé and Serena Williams, who experienced harrowing childbirths and survived potentially fatal pregnancy complications.
During this time, images of sea turtles kept showing up everywhere I turned. When I looked them up I was surprised to learn that South Carolina, where my cousins and I had grown up, was home to four endangered sea turtle species. I was also struck by how much their lives so poetically mirrored my cousins and little sister's experiences. A mother sea turtle lays her eggs and returns to the ocean, never to see her babies again. Hatchlings must survive and thrive against all odds. Scientists refer to a sea turtle's adolescent years as the “lost years” because they withdraw and disappear into the ocean. All of this inspired me to write Hatchlings.
Hatchlings is my way of honoring my little sister and cousins, therefore it is set in 2007. I used magical realism, fantasy, and metaphor to explore this tender subject matter without being trauma forward. Hatchlings is a bittersweet balm. Like the family in the film, my family, and other impacted families are forever changed but we persevere to find connection and joy.
Hatchlings is also a resource for social impact and will help to amplify the conversation about Black maternal health and medical disparities.