Kris Swanberg’s short film BABY MARY is the story of an eight-year-old girl who finds an unsupervised toddler on her way home from school, and decides to take the child home. The story is inspired by Swanberg’s time teaching at a high school on the west side of Chicago, near the neighbourhood in which the film was shot. “I had always wanted to make a film set in the neighbourhood”, says Swanberg, “and this story came to me”.

The neighbourhood in question is portrayed in a muted palette of faded colours one can imagine were once glorious; remnants sapped of joy and prosperity by the mundane struggles of the everyday. Doors, gateways, fences seem to feature a lot, suggesting a crossing of barriers, a ‘taking of chances’, an ‘overcoming of obstacles’ which only our young protagonist, Kiara, in her own quiet way, dares to make.

Where the adults surrounding her fail to rise above the grey, chicken-wire confines of daily life and petty disagreements, Kiara, in her bright yellow polo shirt and her innocent, kindly conviction of the right action to take, ‘stands out in her surroundings’, suggests a way out in her positively different outlook on life. Takiyah, the little girl who plays Kiara, stood out from the crowd in a similar way during the casting process. She and the other actors seem very natural, and one wonders whether they are extremely accomplished professionals, or amateurs – they could somehow be nowhere in between, given the honesty and credibility of their performance. One feels, watching them, that they really know what it is like to live in a neighbourhood such as this, to live in the attitudes and environment which must so grind its inhabitants down.

“We tried some traditional means of casting at first,” says Swanberg, “but we didn’t have much luck finding a young girl that seemed authentic. We ended up putting up fliers in the neighbourhood we shot in. Posted things in community centres, churches, walked around and talked to people hanging out on stoops. We found Takiyah from an open audition. She was just a little girl who lived in the neighbourhood, she had never acted before. She seems a bit older, but she was only 8 years old when we shot. All of the other actors were found the same way”.

“Although Kiara is a child, she seems to be an almost better mother…”

This perhaps explains the innocence with which Kiara plays out her actions, and the naivety with which the role is portrayed. Her action of taking home Baby Mary is one which comes from love and care, yet it is received with such hostility by the adults concerned. The theme of innocence is a pertinent one. “Kiara is innocent, so is the baby,” says Swanberg. “The film, and indeed Kiara’s actions, come from the feeling of wanting to take care of someone or something and being ill equipped to do so. Although Kiara is a child, she seems to be an almost better mother than the woman she took the baby from”. Kiara feeds Baby Mary, plays with her, smiles at her, nurtures her – a contrast to being ignored, as the younger child is used to.

One feels too that Kiara’s own mother is perhaps also different, as her initial angry reaction is tempered by the taking of her daughter’s hand as the pair walk home after delivering Baby Mary back home to her real mother; though she is criticised for letting Kiara run wild, for leaving her too often to her own devices. This brings up the question of what makes a good mother, and the best environment in which to bring up a child.

Is it circumstance or attitude which determines the seeming inevitability of the quality of life offered in the estates of west Chicago? The fact that Swansberg’s thought-provoking film was inspired by the very real experiences of the people she came across whilst teaching there, makes the viewing all the more touching indeed.

BABY MARY screens as part of the Short Fusion strand CONNECTION at 21.00 on 28 August and 18.00 on 5 September, along with AFTER THE FATHER HAS CHOSEN – see the trailer below.

httpvh://vimeo.com/84878163