Sunday, March 13, 2022

Liz Whittemore on WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND (2022) SXSW 2022


Liz Whittemore of  Reel News Daily is back with her thoughts on WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND, a film I'll be reviewing for the Museum of the Moving Images First Look Fest at the end of the week.

What We Leave Behind is not only Iliana Sosa‘s documentary feature debut but also a loving ode to her grandfather. SXSW22 audiences follow an intimate portrait of the family patriarch in his final years. Tirelessly loyal to his family, Julián Moreno endured monthly 17-hour bus rides from his home in Primo de Verdad to El Paso. He did everything in his power to show his loved ones how much they meant to him. Sosa documents her grandfather’s trips into town, his morning routine, and the construction of a new family home from the ground up. She takes what might seem mundane and creates personal magic. Her sporadic voiceovers add an unexpected but soul effecting layer to the narrative. Alongside this device, she captures the life-breath of Mexico and its everyday hum. It is fair to say that I was weeping at the end. Along her journey to know her grandfather, Sosa invites us to be another member of her family.

For more godness from Liz and the others at Reel News Daily go here.

No comments:

Post a Comment