Home Is Somewhere Else

Wednesday 21 September 2022 and Friday 23 September 2022 In competition by Carlos Hagerman, Jorge Villalobos (Mexico, USA, 2021) V.O with Italian subtitles The documentary, fully animated in 2D, is an open window into the hearts and minds of young immigrants, who dream of a home and are terrified of a possible deportation. Told in the first person by the protagonists, the film follows the stories of three people who fight with resilience in order to survive economic and social hardship of all kinds. While the entire film is animated in 2D, each of the three chapters has its own particular and unique aesthetic: the first chapter catapults us into a world drawn in a simple and naive way, as if it were told by the drawings of a child. Jasmine, a high school student and political activist, fights for the rights of her father without a residence permit and a mother temporarily protected from deportation thanks to DACA. The very colourful and clean animation style works as a reassuring vehicle of information, which manages to convey young Jasmine's fear in a gentle way. Each chapter of the film is imbued with a kind of magical realism: the second one uses elegant characters brought to life by simple lines and painted backgrounds. “Home is Somewhere Else” takes viewers from the small town of Dzoncauich in the Mexican state of Yucatan to the urban spaces of Los Angeles in California. In the second chapter, the sisters Evelyn, born in the United States and ended up in Mexico by choice, and Elizabeth, who was born in Mexico but brought to the States as a child, face conflicting and strong emotions. Their differences are expressed through an animation style that divides and unites them at the same time. The last episode tells the story of the 'Deportee' himself, José Eduardo Aguilar. In particular, it deals with the narrator's early years in Heber, Utah. When he wanted to go fishing with his father, he was affected by racial discrimination by other boys of his age. All his efforts eventually land him in prison and he ends up deported. Using sharp angles and solid colours, the narrative here mixes the memories of the lake and fishing, and the period of the protagonist's imprisonment. The innovative aspect of the film lies in its narrative approach, which takes its audience by the hand and tells in a simple way the sometimes little-known truth about the harsh world of immigration and its laws.


Wednesday 21 September- Cineteca Bologna – Sala Mastroianni - 14:30 pm




Friday 23 September - Cinema Arlecchino - 16:30 pm