Between Worlds

The first things parents teach their children are their own values, culture, and identity. However, as part of growing up, the journey to self-discovery often requires a gentle separation from them – a process made more complicated by the cultural discrepancies that occur through migration. In this program, directors with different migration stories deal with their relationships to their mothers, shining light on multilayered cultural and emotional contexts. Using documentary shorts from different cultural groups, we will consider identity, exclusion, and changing relationships marked by more than just the loss of a common language. The films show how cultural differences between generations can both strain and deepen mother-daughter relationships. At the center of this exploration, there are two main questions about film's role in representing very personal stories: How can a lens reveal subtle feelings? What does it mean to tell the story of one's own mother in the context of migration? And how does this storytelling form influence our understanding of cultural identity and familial ties in a world increasingly marked by movement and change? (cs)

Curated and presented by filmmaker Christina Stuhlberger