Oscar Winner Dustin Lance Black Revisits His Mormon Past in Trailer for HBO's 'Mama's Boy'

Dustin Lance Black is taking an emotional look back at his past.

The Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter, 48, explores his upbringing in the new HBO Original documentary Mama's Boy, which is NewFest's opening night screening on Oct. 13.

Black tackles his Mormon childhood, gay identity and close relationship with his late mother. His mom overcame polio, abusive marriages and Mormon dogma "while becoming Black's emotional rock and ultimately, the inspiration for his activism," according to a synopsis.

An extension of his 2019 book of the same name, Mama's Boy "embraces the personal to tell a universally hopeful tale of resilience and reconciliation through the power of love and shared stories."

Black, 48, says, "In the years before I lost my mother, we would stay up late into the night talking about how the nation, and as a result, our own family was growing increasingly divided. This broke my mother's heart. She had shown such courage in her life to defy the odds and build bridges between people of different backgrounds and political persuasions that few thought were possible."

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"I will never forget her sharing with me one night that she felt a dark cloud was coming for our country and family, and her urging me to do what I could to keep her bridges standing," he continues.

"Sadly, she was right about those storm clouds. So, in 2018 and 2019 I made the decision to attempt a memoir to share her story — a story centered on the courage and curiosity it takes to keep family, community and country united, and the courage, curiosity and hard work it will take moving forward to rebuild trust, love, family and community in the places we've cherished and once called home."

Black's husband, Olympic diver Tom Daley, also features in the moving trailer.

Laurent Bouzereau (Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind), the film's director and executive producer, says, "Even though I come from a completely different background, when I read Lance's memoir Mama's Boy, I immediately related to it. He told a universal story. It also felt cinematic, and a journey I wanted to recreate. I hope the film inspires and touches people in the same powerful way I felt when I was making it."

Black says he "underestimated" how "emotionally difficult it would be to retrace my mother's and my own childhood steps, to turn over every stone no matter how frightening." But, "in Laurent's trusted hands, that's what we did."

"Laurent took me back to my own and my mother's childhood, reintroduced me to the people who shaped our lives for better and worse, and challenged me to step into shared spaces with family members and strangers who we knew disagreed with me politically and personally in hopes of demonstrating the power of sharing space in order to build and rebuild bridges — all with cameras rolling," he says.

Mama's Boy premieres on HBO and HBO Max Oct. 18.