Juanicas + Salix Tree

Juanicas is an intimate portrait of a Mexican immigrant family in Quebec affected by mental illness. Using material shot over almost 10 years, the filmmaker documents her complex relationship with her mother and brother, both suffering from bipolar disorder. She starts filming when Juan, her brother, returns to live in Canada after several years away in Mexico. At first the camera provides a distance that helps them reconnect with each other, but soon old patterns return. As her brother’s downward spiral accelerates, the viewer is taken on a journey as heart-wrenching as it is illuminating.

“An essential and necessary film.” ★★★★ Julie Ledoux, VOIR

Juanicas es un retrato íntimo de una familia de inmigrantes mexicanos. Durante 10 años la directora documenta la compleja relación que lleva con su madre y su hermano, ambos diagnosticados con trastorno bipolar. El proceso de filmación comienza cuando Juan regresa a Canadá luego de haber estado recluido varios años en México. Al principio el hecho de filmar parecería acercar a la familia, pero luego viejos patrones de comportamiento resurgen. A medida que la condición de Juan empeora, el espectador es llevado por un viaje tan conmovedor como revelador.

Preceded by:

SALIX TREE
Canada, 2015
Spanish with English subtitles / 10 min

Director: Victor Arroyo

A self-ethnographic document meant to be experienced as a passage between languages, a concentration of voices whose identity remains opaque.