IN A NUTSHELL:
ALL THE WORLD IS SLEEPING follows Chama (Melissa Barrera), who as a young girl in New Mexico, strived to be different from her mother. Now in her twenties, she's found herself falling into a similar cycle of generational addiction. This struggle then threatens her balance as a mother to her own daughter. As Chama tries to keep it all together, a harrowing accident will spiral her out of control, causing her daughter to be taken from her custody. With nothing left, she'll have to confront her past in order to fight for a future - one that can either guide her closer to getting her daughter back or lead her deeper into this dangerous cycle.
The film was written and directed by Ryan Lacen.
In 2017, a reproductive justice-based non-profit, Bold Futures NM, gathered 7 system-impacted women with a history of substance use and pregnancy to create an artistic medium that would explore the complexities of trauma, substance use, and parenting in New Mexico. Over the course of several months and hours of conversation and community building, the insight derived through this facilitated group process evolved into the foundation of an unlikely feature film highlighting characters with authenticity and heart.
This unique film was created with the aim of pushing back against the stigma faced by pregnant women and people living through addiction. ALL THE WORLD IS SLEEPING sheds light on the realities of addiction and the resources that are so desperately needed for families living in cycles of addiction.
This film centers on the complex role of motherhood, addresses generational cycles of addiction, and beautifully highlights a community that is not often represented in films. As a filmmaker whose own life has also been scarred by addiction, Ryan Lacen helped bring a unique cinematic lens while shaping these stories to create a film that would feel both singularly raw and universally connected.
The film's main character, Chama, played by the talented actress Melissa Barrera, is an imaginative composite of the seven Women that encompasses elements of their bravery and struggles all while exposing the arduous circumstances they have endured. Barrera, along with co-star Jackie Cruz, worked with the mothers on and off set to authentically capture and represent their truth.
Throughout production and post-production, the seven mothers remained an integral part of guiding the film to completion. This film is an extraordinary collaboration merging the worlds of non-profit grit and movie glamour all while working alongside a community eager to see their story represented on the big screen.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
This is NOT appropriate for children.
People talk very ugly to each other
TONS of profanity, including many F-bombs
We see shoplifting
We see a topless woman.
A man talks about being gay.
A woman flips the bird.
Talk of assault
A woman overdoses on drugs and goes to the hospital. Another woman ODs and dies.kay.
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