“Traces of Home”
(USA)
Metacritic (8/10), Letterboxd (4/5), Imdb.com (8/10), TMDB.com (8/10), Imdb.com critics review
#BrentMarchant #TracesofHome #documentary #trauma #healing #Palestine #Mexico #physicalabuse #forcedrelocation #SchaumburgIL #accountant #weddingvideographer #ColetteGhunim #Chicago #familyhistory #allAmericanfamily #AmericanDream
Exploring one’s roots can be a revelatory experience, especially for those who don’t know much about their family history. That’s particularly true when one may wonder how and why one’s upbringing turned out as it did. It can end up being quite a journey, especially when one isn’t necessarily prepared for what emerges. Such was the experience of documentary filmmaker Colette Ghunim and her brother, Ramsey. As the children of a Mexican mother, Iza, an accountant, and Palestinian father, Hesni, a wedding videographer who was never without his camera, they grew up in Schaumburg, IL, a suburb of Chicago, in the 1990s. For all practical purposes, they personified the prototypical all-American family living a happy and contented life in a storybook suburban community. In many ways, Iza and Hesni spoiled Colette and Ramsey, hoping to give them the childhoods that they never had in their respective homelands. At the same time, though, there was also an undeniable distance between parents and children, sometimes expressed as coldness, indifference or unrealistic expectations of perfection. And, as Colette and Ramsey entered adolescence, the canyon-like gap that opened up between them and their folks grew so large that there was little connection binding them. As the years passed, Ramsey and, especially Colette, wanted to know why this happened. Thus began this project in which the filmmaker sought to discover the truth behind this unexplained separation. And, in prompting Iza and Hesni to open up about themselves and their upbringings, Colette and Ramsey found out why through dialogues with their parents and family trips to Mexico and Palestine, all documented in this film chronicle. This odyssey together explained a lot, showing how traits get passed down from one generation to the next – and not necessarily the ones that might be most desired, elements that were frequently misunderstood. The harsh experiences of Iza and Hesni when they were growing up illustrate why they wanted their children to have the things that they didn’t have when they were young. But they also carried the childhood traumas of physical abuse and forced relocation into parenthood, unwittingly passing along memories of these experiences in the process and imprinting them on their relationships with their kids. These revelations thus helped to make it possible to rewrite the nature of these relationships, break cycles that were unconsciously and unwittingly shared, and promote much-needed familial healing. Their collective story makes for powerful, impactful viewing, particularly for those who most need to see material to which they can all too familiarly relate. While this offering takes a little while to find its footing, once it does, it nails it, making for viewing that’s heartfelt, intensely moving and rejuvenating. Like the family depicted in this release, “Traces of Home” is a redemptive cinematic experience, one that anyone who has undergone rough patches at home can draw from to balm old wounds and seek new beginnings. And, if that’s not a component of living the American Dream, I don’t know what is.