There is not a going back

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A night in a life of Filipino nurse struggling to reach her mother

Sofia Del Carmen directs a short story with a touch of magical surrealism about a seemingly regular night in a life of Filipino worker, freshly arrived in a new city. Alma, a Filipino nurse in London, responds to a missed phone call from her mother Nanay in the Philippines, in the midst of her journey back from the hospital in a new city.

It's almost Christmas, Alma is on her way home from work with a missed call from her mother Nanay. She listens to it as she goes about her night from cooking dinner to exploring the city alone. Alma can't seem to reach her mother on the phone, and leaves her a voice message in exchange. Their series of missed calls eventually overlap each other as though they're speaking directly to each other while London's night begins to be Manila's day.

Del Carmen says: ‘This film draws a lot from my personal struggle of seeking a sense of belonging between two places in which I feel like I don't belong. Exploring the dualities of identity and longing through the scope of growing up in the post-colonial Philippines I've found that the only true anchor I have is with my family. This has been made much more difficult due to the fact that I, like Alma, have not seen my own mother in a long time. I understand that within my position and limitations that to soothe this restlessness and cognitive dissonance is through constantly finding, losing and finding again is a sense of stillness, acceptance, and equanimity to be able to ground myself, much like what Alma finds at the films conclusion.’

CREDITS

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY : @sofiasofiadeldelcarmencarmen

FEATURING: @iamemilytoledo

PRODUCTION COMPANY : @alookinto_
PRODUCED BY : @opheliaosullivan

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY : @limon.li_cx Li & @stephanieachao
SECOND UNIT CAMERA (MANILA) : @carmcee
HEAD OF LIGHTING : @definitely_not_benjamin

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: @vincejh
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR & TRANSLATOR: @snflms

PRODUCTION AND COSTUME DESIGNER : @leannavhigh
ART DIRECTOR : @louisblenkinsop

EDITOR : @ana.log.in
SOUND DESIGNER : @kaazmierczakkkk

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