Advance Reviews
Tra memoria e migrazione: Joppolo si racconta a Montréal (Between memory and migration: Joppolo tells its story in Montreal) in Il Cittadino Canadese, the largest Italian-language newspaper in Canada.
“The relationships are portrayed with great subtlety and emotional depth, revealing layers of complexity that build quietly and compellingly. A powerful and important work.”
– Dipti Gupta, Film Professor, Concordia University
“Brilliant. Everything about each scene breathes authenticity, tenderness, transparency. What better way to understand the sociology of immigration than this little gem.“
– Bruna Viana, Photographer
“Sheds a new perspective on the emotional sadness that must have been felt by my relatives back in Jamaica, how their childhood memories and family connections slowly weakened, as family members left one by one to new places. The imagery of the village with the “for sale” signs and houses falling apart captured in physical form the bonds that have broken.”
– Janice Tennant, Merrell Global Brand President
“Exquisite, intriguing and gently moving. The choice of shots zero in on the truth of people’s ruptured lives. They are all bitter and sweet at the same time. Francesca’s story with her mother is epic. You draw so much truth from each of them, as from the rest of your fascinating subjects. “
– Alon Nashman, Performer and Theatre Producer
“Compassionate, melancholy, imbued with love and loss, and a tale as old as time – it encapsulates the human story. How many long-suffering people from virtually anywhere in this sad, beautiful world, could watch your film and say, ‘Oh, yes. I know these people’?”
– Mitchell Albert, Publisher, London, UK
“Beautifully crafted and touching! From the first magnificent first aerial shot, the viewer is swept into the film. It’s a universal tale of enduring love through family ties, and of the fractures that come with migration.”
– Étienne Gagnon, Editor
“Its themes feel very timely: villages everywhere are slowly dying out, and the longing to reconnect with one’s roots and the emotional divide between those who leave and those who remain are deeply resonant.”
– Tamara Scherbak, Director
