M Is for Mothers

Two mothers, one journey into the unknown heart of motherhood

Marcela and Melanie are a lesbian couple living in São Paulo, Brazil. When Melanie becomes pregnant with twins through in vitro fertilization, Marcela decides to induce lactation so that both mothers can breastfeed their newborns. While Melanie spends her days idealizing the birth ahead, Marcela takes hormones and stimulates her breasts with a mechanical pump, coaxing her non-pregnant body to produce milk.

In the intimacy of their home, the two women share a relationship of companionship and love as they wait for their children. M Is for Mothers follows them through quiet domestic moments and charged hospital scenes, tracing the chronological arc of maternity from the thirtieth week of pregnancy to the babies' first steps. Scenes using ultrasound scans and IVF imagery are woven together with the protagonists' own voices, deepening the portrait of their inner lives and the transformations they are living through.

Director Lívia Perez filmed almost entirely with a handheld camera and synchronized sound, accompanying the couple in their most intimate spaces. The filmmaking process was built on consent and trust, resulting in a sincerity and spontaneity that draws the audience into the private sphere of Marcela and Melanie's lives. The film asks, alongside its subjects, what it truly means to become a mother.