Mum
(Mama)

A young woman who bas been abandoned by her husband is left to cope witb her retarded and epileptic 13-year-old son. Dong Dong suffered brain damage during an acute epileptic seizure at the age of 6. He seems to be good at nothing except trouble. Liang Dan, bis mother, clings stubbornly to the hope that her child will be normal again some day. As Dong Dong is rejected from schools Liang Dan’s efforts seem futile and she loses hope.
The film consists of three levels : an account of the daily life of the mother and son on black and white film ; short video-taped interviews of mentally disabled children’s mothers ; documentary sequences shot in Chinese mental institutions.