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SuperMum

A short film about Samantha, a superhero the press have recently been calling SuperMum. Written and directed by Lisa Gifford, with Juliette Burton as SuperMum.

Lisa Gifford, the award-winning writer of 3some, has got behind the camera again to write and direct SuperMum.

SuperMum stars up and coming comedian Juliette Burton as Samantha, a modern woman juggling married life to her partner Kate, being a mother to her daughter Sophia and a career as a superhero. Samantha is an average, everyday mum. Or at least she likes to think so, but her career kinda makes her stand out from the crowd. Because Samantha is a superhero. A documentary crew follow Samantha, or 'SuperMum' as the tabloids have dubbed her, on a typical work day, as she goes about her job hoping to be home for her daughter's bedtime story. But a superhero's day doesn't always run to plan...

Lisa Gifford says: "I have arrived very late to the world of superheroes. The first wave of Marvel films largely passed me by; except for Iron Man and that was only really down to a not-altogether professional interest in the work of Robert Downey Jr. But, after being coerced into seeing the first Avengers film, I was hooked.

"What interests me is not the work of the heroes, but their private lives. What do they do after they save the world - do they pop home to mum for a cuppa? Or do they prefer to nip out for a quick Shawarma? I'm British, and we tend to like our heroes to be real, the underdog, and maybe a bit imperfect, so I began sculpting a universe where the heroes are people too; sometimes scatty, sometimes lazy, sometimes fed up, but always trying. And that's how SuperMum was born.

"There's a lot of publicity around how female actors and singers are treated in the press - look at the Oscars, or even the recent exclusion of non-high heel clad women from the Cannes Red Carpet, and I wanted to reflect that too. Here's an average woman, doing a job, and is mystified by this obsession with what she's wearing. She's not even known by her real, or superhero, name; she's categorised by the fact that she has a child - 'SuperMum'. All she wants to do is get through her day relatively intact, and get home to her daughter Sophia and partner, Kate. Something, I think, that most people, male or female, parents or not, can relate to."

SuperMum is part of the My Rode Reel filmmaking competition. You can vote for the film on Rode.com

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