Undertow (1995)

Handling

"undertow" is an experimental short film which explores how the loss of family and culture can affect one's body consciousness and sexuality. It juxtaposes one adopted woman's reconstructed search for her birth mother (through a bleak urban landscape towards a phone booth) with the attempt to connect mind and body. Through multi-layered incorporation of text, dramatic and documentary footage, voice-over body movement, the internal challenges of crawling back into a murky past are revealed. "undertow" represents the pain and struggle of fighting against the forces--or currents (the undertow)--which seek to trap us and prevent us from knowing ourselves.