
The Mother's Seat
Kaia Singh
Alex Beausejour
A tradition in Asian cultures when a newborn baby turns 100 days old, family and friends celebrate over a banquet style dinner welcoming the baby into the world. An unexpected guest arrives and a bowl of red bean dessert soup causes tensions to boil over in this modern day family dramedy.
Tracey is biracial. While celebrating his graduation, both sides of his family fight so hard for his attention that they split him into two ... literally. Unable to undo the split, the family tries to decide which Tracey deserves to remain, the one with black or white skin.
Tara is under pressure from her parents to have Native kids so the race doesn’t die out; which is a lot of pressure to put on someone. She thinks she finds a Native boyfriend in Chris but at dinner before meeting her parents, he points out that he’s not Native. It’s not that he’s pretending to be Native, it’s that he’s got dark skin and high cheekbones so her wishful thinking filled in the blanks. Worried about her parents, Tara tries to convince Chris to pretend to be Indian, which goes against his beliefs.
Believing that she has received a sign from her deceased mother, Veera tries to bring her family back together by cooking the mother’s dhal for her younger sister and withdrawn father. As she cooks, Veera is overwhelmed both by her discomfort in the kitchen as well as the memories of her elegant mother.
Kaia Singh is biracial writer and director based in Montreal, Canada. In her work she features biracial stories and experiences, utilizing filmic language to explore and depict the subjects of intersectional identity, cultural identity, and human connection.