"I had a dream about her."
In Hey Baby, directors Mela Murder and Kaner Flex, explore two very different realms of pregnancy through both movement and dialog. The film is canvased with imagery of the soon-to-be parents as they experience the highs-and-lows of having a child. However, the film also illustrates that they will be going through two completely different journeys by the contrast in the overlayed dialogue Mela goes on about her bodily journey, involving her conversing with her mother about whether or not having a child was the right decision and how different she feels now that she is with child. This is contrasted with Kaner's dialogue where he talks about feeling isolated from his family. Most of his dialogue is inaudible as if he feels like his opinions aren't being heard because, in theory, this journey is more so about Mela than him. He feels like he's just along for the ride as he stands behind Mela in most of their dancing sequences, but what he doesn't realize until later is that he's just as apart of this experience as she is. As he wraps his arms around her, seemingly to protect her as she struggles through her issues, he comes to the realization that he is not only her caretaker, but that of their unborn child as well.Watch the film here.
"I find that most of my day is literally waking up and figuring out how to keep him alive by the time his mom comes home."
In this enticing expose on fatherhood, director Reinaldo Marcus Green uses his son as a way to explore what it means to be a dad. By using the camera to track his son's movements over the course of his life, not only is he just capturing his son on camera, he is highlighting just how his son has transformed him into this manifestation of a father figure by simply being alive. In the film, he states that a majority of his day consists of keeping his son alive and that often, he is just thrust into the role of a father upon waking up in order to keep his son from killing himself because he doesn't know any better. It is through both the fear and vulnerability that comes in wanting to not let this tiny person down that he realizes that there really isn't any true definition of parenting. It's just about being present and doing the best that you can do.Watch the film here.
