Looking Back

Distancias offers a glimpse at migration from the standpoint of three individuals who, either as a conscious decision or because of uncontrollable circumstances, didn’t migrate with their loved ones. Left in Cuba, they strive to keep family ties and memories, coping with feelings of displacement and missed opportunities while hoping for a better future.

Between the 1930s and the 1970s, the ever-present convenience stores in Jamaica were owned by Chinese families. These shops played an important role in bridging the gap between Chinese and Jamaican cultures. Over time, locals and newcomers formed complex relationships made of acceptance, mistrust, differences, similarities, affection, integration and solidarity.

With no more than fifteen speakers of the Nuxalk language left, director Banchi Hanuse embarks on a personal journey to find the true meaning of cultural values and traditions through memories and oral storytelling. Can technology help keep a language and its culture from disappearing?