Portland Filmmaker Dawn Jones Redstone’s “Mother of Color” Is Now Streaming on Amazon

A few years ago, Portland filmmaker Dawn Jones Redstone assembled a team of women and nonbinary people of color who identify as part of the LGBTQUIA+ community to make Mother of Color, the story of Noelia, a single mother who receives mysterious messages from her ancestors.

Now, after playing at film festivals and in theaters across the country, from Portland to New York City, the film is finally available to stream on Amazon Prime.

“Not everyone realizes how much work it takes to get to this point,” Jones Redstone said in a statement. “Thinking about how much the cast and crew gave to the film, and how audiences responded on the festival circuit, this moment was that light in the dark that guided me to make sure the film would see a much wider release.”

In the film, Noelia is played by Ana del Rocío, who recently ran for the Multnomah County commissioner seat vacated by County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. Noelia also dreams of running for office, and the movie’s parallel to del Rocío’s aspirations for public office are unmistakable. (The cast also includes none other than former City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty). Indeed, the movie received a campaign screening during last year’s election season. Julia Brim-Edwards ultimately won the seat.

Mother of Color’s journey isn’t over yet. Jones Redstone is readying a special-edition Blu-ray (featuring a behind-the-scenes documentary and an audio commentary) for a holiday release.

“You’ve done the festivals, you’ve found and negotiated with a distributor, and you’ve delivered the files to be able to come out to the world, and none of that is paid work for an indie,” Jones Redstone said. “You’ve got to set aside other projects and sustain that passion over time to see it through.”