Vocal Roots (2021) short film, 7:51 min
The body holds memory, the land holds memory, and in between body and land, is a whole family history. Can a family lineage be healed through the act of planting a tree? What does a bodily gesture unveil about an ancestral past? This semi-fictional semi-autobiographical short film is an internal conversation of an uprooted daughter seeking reconciliation with her embodied history. A dis/located ritual, that grants her the ability to remember, forgive, hope, and forget.
Role:
Writing, Editing, Performance, Sound Design, Filming
“Daughter,
I’ve planted the palm tree you’ve asked for,
two cedars and a few pine trees
now you can remember grandpa every time you visit here
I’ve planted you a tree for every hug I didn’t give you as a child
or maybe a leaf for each”“Father,
you told me for every illness there’s a medicine
but you always wanted to be given the medicine
you were always afraid of finding it yourself
so, I made sure to never receive a medicine if I wasn’t the one who found it”
