The Second Mother

The Second Mother is a film about a set of social structures which have been in place in Brazilian culture since colonial times, and which continue to affect the country’s emotional architecture to this very day.

I started writing this script twenty years ago when I had my first child and realized how noble a job it is to bring up a child. At the same time, I also noticed the extent to which this task is devalued by Brazilian culture. More often than not, rather than looking after your own baby, you hired a live-in nanny and outsourced most of the work that was considered tedious or draining. What we sometimes forget is that those nannies very often leave their own children with someone else in order to fit into that scheme. This social paradox struck me as one of the most significant in Brazil because it’s always the children who lose out – both those of the employers and those of the nannies. There’s a major problem in the bedrock of our society rooted in how we raise our children. Can there really be an upbringing without affection? Can affection be bought? And, if so, at what price?

The Second Mother should be seen as both a social criticism, and as more. Its direct approach is neither to judge nor glamorize the characters and their actions, but merely to show the naked truth in all of its complexness.

The Second Mother reflects the recent history of the country as well as choices that I have made in my own life. I hope all the love and care that is in this film’s DNA can go further and maybe, in its own small way, help people find new and better places for themselves in the world.