"Mama I Want To Sing"

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Amara (Ciara), a twenty-something year old R&B singing sensation is getting ready to take the stage at the BET Hip Hop Awards show. Her entourage surrounds her. Brother/ photographer Luke snaps pictures of her every move. Jeff, the manager, is discussing business with Sienna, the publicist. 

Simon, the president of Amara’s record label coaches his staff on Amara’s new CD release. Moments before Amara takes the stage Simon orders her to change out of her “going to church” outfit and into something sexy and revealing. Amara is furious. All she wants to do is sing. She takes the stage clad in a revealing outfit and turns it out like the superstar she is. A rapper joins her and the stage becomes a party. 

Everyone enjoys the show except her mother Dr. Lillian Winter who watches the performance on television. Lillian believes the daughter of an evangelist should not be on stage dressed like a jezebel, gyrating her body next to some gangster rapper. Much to Simon’s chagrin, Amara ends the show with an impromptu song. The audience is captivated. The moment she leaves the stage Simon is on her. 

He warns her to never pull a stunt like that again. Amara’s entourage is interviewed for a television special about her life story. We learn from her grandfather Horace about Amara’s (whose real name is Doris Winter) early days as a little girl who grew up in Harlem. Her father the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Winter was the minister of the church. One day a shy young Amara is encouraged by her mother to sing. The congregation is blown away as her father beams proudly. A few days later Rev. 

Winter dies suddenly while preaching a sermon. Amara is devastated, no longer able to sing. In the next interview, Luke reveals a teenaged Amara who loves to sing R&B/Hip Hop songs. Her mother does not approve. She encourages Amara to sing gospel, but Amara is far more interested in singing secular music. Jeff informs the interviewer about the day she is discovered singing with a band and is offered the opportunity to go on tour. 

Against her mother’s wishes, Amara takes the gig. Life on the road begins to take a toll on her. She begins to behave out of character. She marries a wealthy European business man and quickly gets an annulment. Not long after, Jeff introduces her to Simon who signs her to a record deal on the spot. Back to present day… Things start to unravel for Amara. Luke tells her that he has been offered a job to photograph the war. In no way is Amara happy with this news. 

Luke explains how this is an opportunity to develop a name for himself and to get out of Amara’s shadow. She becomes jealous when her mother “adopts” a young gospel singer who performs on her television show. Simon threatens to drop Amara from the label because he wants to focus on a hot new singer. Lillian tries to make amends with her children by spending time with them; time she didn’t have for them when she was building her career as an evangelist. 

She joins Amara at her video shoot and even tries to learn some of the choreography. Luke photographs mother and daughter dancing together and having a good time. Later that night while at dinner with her children, Lillian is confronted about her absence from their childhood. Old wounds are reopened and they become at odds again. They all go in separate directions. Amara goes on tour, Luke goes to war and Lillian flees to New York. Lillian brings down the house one day as she preaches a powerful message about the “war within.” Ironically, that very same day Luke is kidnapped by the enemy while on assignment. Lillian and Amara are devastated by the news. 

They both try to cope by throwing themselves into their work. In this tragic time of need they let go of their differences and come together as a family. Amara goes home to New York to be with her mother. Unfortunately, part of their family has been taken away. Two men in uniforms show up at their house and deliver the worst news ever. Luke has been killed. Once again Amara deals with the loss of her brother by throwing herself into her music. This time it’s on her own terms. 

The new Amara is a mature and confident woman. She speaks openly in interviews about her love for her brother and the community where she grew up. She dedicates her time to establishing community centers for children and the elderly. The most special center is the Luke Winter Arts Center. During its dedication ceremony, Amara gives the performance of her life as she invites her mother on stage and sings a powerful rendition of “Mama I Want to Sing.”

STARRING: Ciara, Lynn Whitfield, Patti LaBelle, Billy Zane, Juanita Bynum, Hill Harper
DIRECTOR: Charles Randolph-Wright
STUDIO: Vision Films
RATING: PG (For thematic elements)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): TBD
RUNNING TIME: TBD
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: TBD
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: TBD

by :In Movie Theaters TBD