A Place to Breathe

Supported through a postproduction residency in the Wexner Center’s Film/Video Studio, this feature-length project intertwines the personal journeys of those who are transcending their own obstacles by healing others. Combining animation and cinema verité techniques, the film highlights the creative strategies by which immigrant communities in the US survive and thrive.

The film follows Rodrigue (DR Congo), Socheat (Cambodia), Norma (Guatemala), and the young couple Edgar and Yania (Mexico and Uruguay) as they pursue their dreams of supporting their communities’ healing. Their stories are anchored at Street Level Health Project in Oakland, CA, and Metta Health Center in Lowell, MA. Each facility has its own model of “whole community” healing that provides powerful insight on culturally responsive, trauma-informed approaches to increasing health equity. Common ground and chance connections join these unique stories as the film humanizes those who have migrated to the US, sharing their enriching perspectives. As A Place to Breathe reveals, this wisdom is more needed than ever with the devastating effects that COVID-19 is having on communities of color and immigrant populations. (86 mins., HD video)