Nomad Shadow

Few experiences are more emotionally devastating than living in exile. Many filmmakers have impactfully explored the subject, but few have investigated what happens when you return to your former home and find it a very different place than you remember.

That experience is the focus of Japanese-American filmmaker Eimi Imanishi’s poignant debut feature, Nomad Shadow. Imanishi follows Mariam, a twenty-something Sahrawi woman who fled Western Sahara a decade ago. (The region was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania 50 years ago, creating constant instability and a refugee crisis that persists today.)

Deported from Spain and sent home, Mariam is desperate to return to Europe but has no way of making enough money. And her family isn’t exactly welcoming. Her mother and sister resent her for leaving. Her protective brother Alwali won’t let her work in his lucrative drug business, her sole potential source of income.

Her only solace is her old friend Sidahmed, also an outsider, and her new-found, unlikely friendship with Alwali’s Moroccan girlfriend Ghalia. As Mariam struggles to come to terms with her new situation, it becomes clear that her experiences in Europe may have made reacclimation impossible.

Anchored by fine performances (especially from Nadhira Mohamed as Mariam), and propelled by dreamlike cinematography, which smartly reflects Mariam’s confusion, and intelligent, empathetic direction, the film marks Imanishi’s return to the Festival following her memorable short Battalion to My Beat (TIFF ’16), which also focused on the situation in Western Sahara.

ROBYN CITIZEN