Announcing Home Is Distant Shores Film Festival 2024!

12 PM Noon, May 18th 2024

The Cary Theater, Cary, North Carolina.

In its 5th year, the Home Is Distant Shores Film Festival celebrates the lives and experiences of immigrants and refugees who have embarked on journeys to new lands, showcasing their compelling stories through captivating films and artwork. This year, we're excited to feature a special event highlighting the visual masterpiece of Ukrainian-born artist Anatolii Tarasiuk, who now resides in Morrisville NC, followed by an interactive Q&A session. Following this, two film blocks will immerse audiences in a variety of engaging narratives, each culminating in Q&A sessions with filmmakers and community members. Join us for a transformative experience and secure your tickets today!

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Event Program

  • Doors Open 11:30:00 AM

  • Special Event - Visual Artist Q&A - Anatolii Tarasiuk (Local Ukrainian Artist) 12:00:00 PM Noon

  • Intermission 12:45:00 PM

  • Film Block One - Welcome & Films Introduction 1:00:00 PM

  • Film Block One - Screening (93 mins) 1:05:00 PM

  • Film Block One - Q&A 2:40:00 PM

  • Intermission 03:10:00 PM

  • Film Block Two - Films Introduction 3:30:00 PM

  • Film Block Two - Screening (88 mins) 3:35:00 PM

  • Film Block Two - Q&A 5:03:00 PM

  • Breakdown / Load Out Begins 5:33:00 PM

  • Event Ends, Theater Closes 6:18:00 PM

Special Event - From Ukraine to Carolina: A Journey of Art and Resilience

Art exhibition and interactive Q&A with Ukrainian Artist and Morrisville resident Anatolii Tarasuik

Film Block 1- Between Homes: Navigating Deportation and the Quest for Belonging

  • as American as it Gets - Director Marnie Salvani, A Filipino American filmmaker and her family reflect on the American Dream as they prepare for her mother’s immigration trial amidst a global pandemic.

  • Gandom - Director Hashem Moradi, A young Afghan woman living in Iran receives the news that her entire family in Afghanistan are killed in an air strike by the U.S. She tries very hard to keep the hope alive for her teenage brother by hiding this tragic news from him …

  • The Test - Directors Claudia Myers, Laura Waters Hinson, A Ghanaian maintenance worker at a Virginia retirement community dreams of becoming an American citizen to provide a better life for his family. With their future at stake, he enlists the help of two elderly residents to prepare for the biggest test of his life: the US Citizenship exam.

  • S.P.I.C. - Director Heidi Miami Marshall, A young boy’s desire to get his mother back, and a father’s struggle to make things right collide. Inspired by true events.

  • RAIZ - Director Raydrick Feliciana, Raiz - Papiamento for "Roots". A personal exploration of past, family, and the question of home, weaved through long-forgotten footage and distant conversations.

Film Block 2 - Borders of Belonging: Stories of Immigration and Identity

  • Soraya - Director Maryam Rahimi, Fearing family prejudices, Soraya an Iranian woman decides to immigrate illegally by smugglers.

  • Un Velero Llamado Libertad - Directors Julieta Crissien, Alisa Olegovna Barinova, follow the relentless journey of an immigrant father as he juggles multiple jobs to defy the odds and provide for his family

  • The Angel of History- Director Eric Esser, A border in Europe. A painting by Paul Klee. A poem by Walter Benjamin. A film about yesterday and today, and how difficult it is to recognize one behind the other.

  • Champion - Director Kim J.Y. Han, It's 1997, and 9-year-old Jimin just moved to California. Jimin refuses to speak to her father who stayed behind in Korea, but when a major financial crisis devastates their home country, all hopes that he can join them in America dissipates. Now, Jimin must gather the courage to take the next steps alone.

  • Bite of Benin - Director Brad Herring, Adopted at the age of ten from her homeland of Bénin, West Africa, and raised in an abusive household in Connecticut, Chef Adé Carrena travels back home on a journey to reclaim her identity through food and represent what was taken away from her across the Diaspora.

Some of our past selections

We are interested in wide variety of stories such as migration journey, border security, education, employment, documented and undocumented immigration, community integration, family separation, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), resettlement of refugee and asylum seekers etc. We encourage various storytellers to share their work with almost 800,000 immigrants who reside in North Carolina state and beyond.