Nowhere Near

Both diaristic and delicately abstract, this long-gestating, ruminative work from Miko Revereza (No Data Plan, Art of the Real 2019) reflects the filmmaker’s attempts to understand his and his family’s experiences as undocumented Filipino immigrants in the US. As he untangles the threads of his personal history, the film weaves an ever-expanding tapestry, stretching from downtown Los Angeles, to the American Midwest, and back to his familial home of Pangasinan. Called a “psychogeographical journey” by its filmmaker, Nowhere Near presents a vast swath of experience, incorporating the bureaucratic realities of DACA, the nightmare of securing documents and work permits, the dystopian modernity of US living, and the feeling of disenfranchisement from one’s ancestral land. This captivating, collage-like film speaks with eloquence to the fragmentary nature of living between worlds.