Country: Italy
Year: 2025
Duration: 80
In Cambodia, a sudden law criminalizes surrogacy, and 32 women are arrested, forced to raise the children they gave birth to for others. In Italy, a bill that makes surrogacy a universal crime threatens the intended parents who have relied on it. And Lia, the daughter of two fathers born through that practice, asserts her right to exist. Mothers weaves together three stories that reveal how control over women’s bodies becomes the ground on which everyone’s freedom is contested.
Biography
film director
Alice Tomassini
(Italy) is an independent documentary director and writer. Her films have been distributed by major broadcasters (including Sky, Discovery, and RAI), and she was recently featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe – Media list for the strong social impact of her work. In 2023, she received the Nastro d’Argento award for her documentary Kordon, a journey through the courageous resistance of Ukrainian women. After its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival, Kordon was screened in over 60 countries worldwide, earning significant critical and public acclaim.
FILMOGRAFIA
Login (doc, mm, 2016), Churchbook (doc, 2019), L’importanza di iniziare da uno (doc, mm, 2021), Dear Mama (doc, mm, 2022), Kordon (doc, 2022), Mothers (doc, 2025).
Declaration
film director
“This film was born out of a sense of urgency. When I started, a law in Italy was about to turn surrogacy into a universal crime; then came its approval, and the public debate vanished, leaving people alone to live with fear. I began to wonder what happens to those trapped in that silence, forced to defend their families as if it were a crime. For over a year, I searched for women willing to speak, held back by the fear that their choices might be used against them or their children. I felt a deep responsibility to tell their stories – of pain, resilience, forgiveness, and motherhood – without simplifications, but also without absolute certainties.”
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR: Alice Tomassini. SCREENPLAY: Alice Tomassini, Vincenzo Scuccimarra. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Francesca Zonars, Alberto Marchiori. FILM EDITING: Julien Panzarasa. MUSIC: Andrea Guerra. PRODUCTION: Carlo Degli Esposti, Nicola Serra, Marco Grifoni for Palomar - A Mediawan Company. CONTACT: Palomar info@palomarweb.com
