synopsis
the film
After a picture perfect pregnancy, Claire’s entry into first first-time motherhood begins with a life-threatening sixteen hour labour, physically and emotionally tearing her apart. This violent entry into motherhood eventually leads her to question herself, her past and the systems she lives in.
She discovers that motherhood changes everything. Not just our daily lives, but our very sense of self.
This profound physical, psychological, and spiritual transformation, has remained largely unspoken.
In Matrescence: the hidden world of M/otherhood Claire Tonti; mother, podcaster, and musician; speaks to one woman – her pre-mother self – about the things she wishes she knew about motherhood. From the outskirts of the largest slum in Kenya to the high-paced corridors of New York’s corporate world, she gathers the voices of mothers and experts alike.
Woven with cutting edge science, storytelling, and lived experience, this documentary explores how understanding matrescence can transform not only individual lives, but the very systems that shape them.
