Jury Statement: “This film explores a side of the pandemic told through a compelling human perspective. We particularly were drawn to the portions of the film that educated us on a broader issue of migrant and immigrant workers in Canada. The story follows one couple’s journey into hardship and sacrifice due to the pandemic but also leaves the viewer hopeful and optimistic for their future and questions the system that put them there in the first place. Lots of information packed into this just under 30 min doc.” Source
Screening September 26, 4:00 p.m MST at Cineplex Eau Claire and online September 27 – October 3 as part of SHORTS: ALBERTA SPIRIT DOCUMENTARIES
Film Synopsis: A Filipino couple in Calgary, Alberta perseveres through a long-distance relationship redolent of the many years they spent apart in the past. Before, international borders separated them. Now, a virus. While Roderick, a Cargill meat plant worker, recovers in the hospital from a COVID-induced stroke, his wife, Norie, summons the strength to support her family. Set against the backdrop of COVID-19 outbreaks among migrant workers across Canada.
Screening September 26, 4:00 p.m MST at Cineplex Eau Claire and online September 27 – October 3 as part of SHORTS: ALBERTA SPIRIT DOCUMENTARIES
Filmmaker Bio: Kiana Rawji is a Calgarian studying Film and History & Literature at Harvard College. She has long used public speaking and writing to engage with social justice issues and capture diverse stories of human resilience; she is passionate about the provocative capacity of film to further these goals in new ways. Art, she believes, can be a powerful platform for truth, a provocative conduit for empathy, and a megaphone to the lips of those long-ignored. As a Muslim woman and daughter of Kenyan/South Asian immigrants, she is particularly interested in telling stories about migration, diaspora, and identity. http://www.kianarawji.com/
Ismailimail 