Nowhere Near

Nowhere Near was part of IDFA program in 2023, and withdrawn by the filmmaker. Upon the request of the filmmaker, we publish the following text as received:

"This film was one of 12 to withdraw from participation at IDFA 2023, amongst 28 total withdrawals that included moderators, jury, and others in protest at the festival's damaging denunciation of an action in solidarity with Palestine that took place on the opening night of the festival. At the time, the festival erased all information relating to the films withdrawn in protest from the website. In response to the publication of the Palestine Film Institute's 'Industry Protocol in Times of Genocide' in August 2024, and as a gesture towards transparency, IDFA reinstated the information relating to the withdrawn films in September 2024. No further accountability has been taken.”  - The Palestine Film Institute on behalf of the filmmakers, for the full statement click here

Film Synopsis

At some point in this meandering essay film, director Miko Revereza observes that the Filipino language has many loanwords derived from Spanish and American colonists. But if the words are on loan, he wonders, who is earning the interest? It is a typical aside in this poetic evocation of Revereza’s experiences as a Filipino immigrant in the US, who then became an American immigrant in the Philippines.

Ever since 2014, Revereza has been making intimate experimental films documenting his life without a residence permit in the US, where he has lived illegally with his parents since childhood. Now they are preparing to return to the Philippines, where, according to his grandmother, the family owns a large parcel of land. But when they look for it on Google Maps, she is unable to identify it in the now built-up old village. A dreamlike portrait of a quest to find a place to put down roots.