My Other Mother

Coming of Age Drama

Tagline

Can dreams set us free?

Logline

An angry, self-centred, adolescent girl from the city struggles to deal with the absence of her father in her life, but when she runs away to join the family nanny in her rural village, she has a mystical encounter with a white lion and rediscovers her connectedness to the world around her, healing her pain in the process.

Synopsis

"My name is Margo. I was very angry when I ran away that day. I was angry at everything...and everyone. I was angry because my Dad was gone...and I loved him more than anything else in the whole world. But it was him who told me to go."

"It took me all day to get there. First I took the bus. Then I had to find the right taxi. That was scary, but the Chicken Mama helped me. She warned the taxi driver that if anything happened to me, he would never get any of her fried chicken again. He took great care of me. But I think he would've anyway. He was kind."

Eezie,the woman who had taken care of Margo since she was born, knew she had a problem the instant she saw Margo get off the taxi. She was coming out of Mr Zwanga's General Dealer when she saw Margo. Taking pictures of everything. With that camera.

Her dad had given her the camera, just before he left that night. He was a photographer and he'd always promised her a camera. Her very own. Somehow she felt closer to him every time she looked through the lens. She took a picture of Eezie standing under the sign saying "Zwanga's General Dealer". Eezie didn't know whether to be angry or worried. You could see that in her face. And in the picture.

Of course Eezie took her home. And they sorted it out with the grandparents who were too old to drive so far. And even Linda called. From Canada a few days later. Everyone agreed that she could stay. It was only two weeks. But it was going to be two weeks that changed Margo's life. Which was a good thing. Because before she went to the village, she was definitely not happy. When she went home, she would be a different person. But it didn't begin well. At all.

Margo had her first dream about the white lioness when she dozed off in the taxi on the way to the village. At first she thought it was one of the animals her father was taking pictures of in the dream. As usual, it was a dream about him. But then the same lioness began to appear, everytime she fell asleep. And like she said, it was Simon who helped her find the real one in the end.

He was trying to ignore her, but it just came out. Boys of his age try to either ignore or impress girls. Simon couldn't decide. So he tried both. Margo struggled not to laugh. They were outside the General Dealer and she'd just met Mr Zwanga. She didn't like the man. It was the way he looked at her. Then Simon told her how Mr Zwanga was the most powerful man in the area. He was a politician. He also owned shops and property and even a game farm. Which was really a hunting farm. Rich people came from overseas to hunt there. By now he was chatting away. As boys do when they're trying to impress girls. And they've forgotten the "ignore" bit.

Margo had always paid attention to her dreams. It was why she had come to see Eezie. So when the white lioness stepped out of her dreams and into the light, she knew she had to do something.