Meet Mama Jules

Before the film, before the title, before anyone called her the Lioness, she was simply Mom. Mama Jules. The woman at the center of the home, the one everyone leaned on, the one who held it all together without ever asking for credit.

Paula Fils-Aime Jules was born on August 22, 1940. Her story began in Haiti, in a world that asked her to be strong before she was ever old enough to choose it. And she was. Quietly, steadily, for the rest of her life.

The woman behind the name

People who met Paula later in life knew her strength. What they did not always see was everything it was built on. The sacrifices made without complaint. The long days. The faith she held onto when there was little else to hold. She carried her family the way a lioness carries her own, fiercely and without hesitation, and she made it look effortless even when it was not.

She led with compassion more than with words. She taught by doing. And she gave, again and again, in ways that only became fully clear once we sat down to tell her story and realized how much of who we are came from her.

How she became the Lioness

We did not set out to call her the Lioness. The name found her. As family and friends gathered and the memories came pouring out, the same picture kept forming. A protector. A provider. A woman who faced down whatever came for her family and never backed away from it.

That is who Mama Jules was. And that is why her story has to be told. Not because she was famous, but because she was the kind of woman whose strength quietly shaped everyone around her, the kind of woman so many families are held together by and so few ever stop to honor.

Her legacy lives on

Paula passed on September 7, 2025, but her story does not end there. It continues in her daughter Maureen, in her mother Jaccilia before her, and in every person who carries a piece of what she gave. Three generations, one legacy, one unbroken thread.

This film is our way of making sure the world meets her the way we did. As Mom. As Mama Jules. As the Lioness.

Help Us Tell Her Story

Every contribution brings Mama Jules’ story closer to the screen, and helps preserve a legacy that inspires all humanity.