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The Importance of Home: Interview with Colette Ghunim, director of TRACES OF HOME

As we grow older, the question of ‘Where do I truly belong?’ may arise. Although this feeling can appear at many stages of life, for migrant families it takes on distinct shades connected to their identity and their idea of home. In Traces of Home, Colette Ghunim uses her own story as a starting point to delve into this search and reflect on the meaning of belonging.  

The 24th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival had the opportunity to speak with the director about her film, in which she reflected on the meaning of home, family, and the patriarchal violence in contexts as different as displacement, caused by the genocide in Palestine, and gender-based violence in Mexico.

FICM: Traces of Home delves into your parents’ stories of displacement. How long did  it take you to develop the project, and what inspired you to do it?

Colette Ghunim: Well, I could say that I began this project nine years ago. I really wanted to do it, motivated by the political climate in the United States. At that time, there were so many things happening: family separations at the border, issues affecting Muslims and refugees from the Arab world. So, I felt it crucial to share my parents’ stories because they echoed what was happening in the world around us.

Later, I started thinking that we could travel to Mexico and Palestine so that we could find their childhood homes—the ones they escaped from. Once we were there, I thought: “Wow, it’s incredible that I can be in Mexico, in Palestine, and return together for the first time.” However, I didn’t feel at home in those places. That’s when I decided to begin therapy for the first time. 

From that moment on, I understood that there were deeper layers to my story: intergenerational trauma, the barriers between my parents and me, and the fact that Chicago didn’t feel like home. That’s when I understood that this film would be so much bigger.

FICM: What was it like to draw the line between being a daughter and being a director, especially in those intimate and vulnerable scenes captured in the documentary?

Colette Ghunim: I really think that it was easier for me to be the director than the daughter. For example, with the camera, I felt protected enough by this kind of barrier the camera made, and that allowed me to ask the hardest questions. Precisely, the moments when I needed to be a daughter were those when my parents didn’t want to talk about dynamics or about something that had happened between them because they didn’t want those details to be in the film. Just in those moments, I would say: “It’s okay, we don’t need that in the film because my family is more important than any project.”

FICM: It’s fascinating how the documentary allows two stories of displacement to intertwine that ultimately differ so much. Would you say there were shared elements between your mother’s and father’s stories, even if the causes of their displacement were different? 

Colette Ghunim: Yes. Thanks to this film I came to understand that all violence has the same origin: patriarchy. On one hand, the domestic violence inflicted on my grandmother by her husband; and, on the other hand, what is happening in Palestine—the genocide, the occupation, and the colonization. It all stems from the same root. 

FICM: How did Melissa Barrera and John Leguizamo join the project as executive producers?

Colette Ghunim: Well, two of our producers had previously met John and Melissa and showed them Traces of Home. They were moved by the film and said: “We do want to support the documentary,” and we’re deeply grateful to have them in our team.

Talking about Melissa, she is amazing because she speaks out passionately about what’s happening in Palestine. That’s why she felt like: “Wow, this is about both Mexico and Palestine!” Also, she is deeply interested in subjects like emotional intelligence and trauma.

Now, talking about John, he’s deeply engaged with issues that affect Latinos and immigrants in the United States. That’s why he felt it was important to help share stories like these.

FICM: After this experience, how has your sense of home and your idea of family transformed?

Colette Ghunim: Actually, travelling to Mexico and Palestine was merely the outer layer of this story. When I became aware that there was a trauma within me, a pain living in my body that I didn’t know how to heal, I knew that making this film was, indeed, the medicine prescribed to cure this wound and my relationship with my parents. 

Surely, during this process, I realized I had been looking for a home in Mexico, in Palestine, with my parents. However, I had never considered that I could find a home within myself. It felt like a revelation to finally understand that it had always been there. It was a deeply spiritual experience.

FICM: Just to finish, what do you wish the Mexican audience to feel or experience while watching the film?

Colette Ghunim: Well, I hope those who attend the festival can sense our shared connection between Palestine, Mexico, and the United States. That it’s all part of human history, and that we’re all yearning for the same thing: home.

We are all products of colonization—in Mexico, Palestine, and the United States—it’s the same story. 

If we cannot remember our ancestors and our roots, the colonizers are free to do whatever they want. We must reclaim the power within us. That is my message.