WORK IN PROGRESS IMPACT SCREENING: TRACES OF HOME -

Work in Progress screening of Colette Ghunim's upcoming "Traces of Home" feature film, followed by workshop with the filmmaker

Date: June 8th

Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm

Location: El Paso Mexican American Cultural Center (BlackBox)

Join us for an exclusive sneak peek screening of the powerful documentary Traces of Home by Palestinian/Mexican American filmmaker Colette Ghunim, who will be in attendance for a post-screening conversation. 

This deeply personal film explores displacement, identity, and the search for belonging across generations and continents. Following the screening, participate in an intimate workshop on intergenerational trauma and healing, where we’ll reflect on the emotional legacies we carry and explore paths toward collective healing.

In Traces of Home, filmmaker Colette Ghunim embarks on journeys with her parents to find the ancestral houses they were forced to flee as children in Mexico and Palestine. What begins as a desire to connect to Colette’s cultural origins reveals an internal quest to heal her disconnect with her parents, and, ultimately, with herself.

About the Director:

Born in 1992, Colette Ghunim grew up with a typical American childhood in suburban illinois. In between birthday parties, school events, and family outings, her father, Hosni, and mother, Iza were determined to give her and her brother, Ramsey, a happy life. Yet something always felt missing - Colette always felt disconnected from both her cultures and her parents. Forced to flee Palestine and Mexico as children, her parents’ only desire was to make a life that was simple, safe, and American. Yet emotional walls built out of their suppressed trauma drew her family further apart over the years. Now, decades later, filmmaker Colette Ghunim takes us on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery: a quest to find the source of the walls by returning to find her parents’ childhood homes, confronting the pain of the past to finally heal herself, her parents, and her ancestors.

"In Traces of Home, in Co-Production with Kartemquin Films and funded by Latino Public Broadcasting and the Sundance Film Institute, filmmaker Colette Ghunim embarks on journeys with her parents to find the ancestral houses they were forced to flee as children in Mexico and Palestine. What begins as a desire to connect to Colette’s cultural origins reveals an internal quest to heal her disconnect with her parents, and, ultimately, with herself."