Big Mama is a 2000 documentary film by Tracy Seretean. It chronicles the struggle of 89-year-old Viola Dees and her fight to retain custody of her grandson. It illustrates many of the difficulties facing an increasing number of grandparents raising their grandchildren in the USA today. It won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.
The film follows 18 months in the life of Viola Dees (89 years old) as she tries to persuade Los Angele...
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Big Mama is a 2000 documentary film by Tracy Seretean. It chronicles the struggle of 89-year-old Viola Dees and her fight to retain custody of her grandson. It illustrates many of the difficulties facing an increasing number of grandparents raising their grandchildren in the USA today. It won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.
The film follows 18 months in the life of Viola Dees (89 years old) as she tries to persuade Los Angeles authorities that she can care for her grandson, 9-year-old Walter. Born to a drug addicted mother, Walter was in foster care until Dees managed to get him released into her care at the age of four. He was a very disturbed child, traumatized by the death of his father and the disappearance of his mother, while still appearing bright and sweetly loving to his grandmother.
The film focuses on the continuous battle against age discrimination faced by Dees and many like her. While contending with her own declining health, and a bureaucratic and...
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