All posts tagged: Wounds

In Sundance breakout film ‘TheyDream,’ a Puerto Rican family heals old wounds

In Sundance breakout film ‘TheyDream,’ a Puerto Rican family heals old wounds

At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, filmmaker William D. Caballero won the NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression for his intensely personal, multimedia feature debut, “TheyDream.” During his acceptance speech, he made a powerful statement. “In case ICE were ever to harm me or kill me, this film will serve as the truth of who I am, and who my family is, before Fox News or this administration ever makes us out to be the villain[s],” he recalls paraphrasing during a recent interview. Blending live action footage with different animation techniques — as well as the 3-D-printed miniatures that have been a fixture of Caballero’s work for more than a decade — “TheyDream” honors the filmmaker’s Puerto Rican loved ones, particularly his mother, Milly. She collaborated with him in the making of this one-of-a-kind portrait of loss, resilience and shared healing. Their heartfelt exchanges throughout this process are also shared on-screen. “Seeing her light up and become transformed throughout was just invigorating, because it allowed us to talk about heavy things and bond throughout …

Sofish embraces wounds in debut LP ‘Femme Illustrée’

Sofish embraces wounds in debut LP ‘Femme Illustrée’

Mexican pop singer Sofish couldn’t escape from Ray Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man,” a collection of 18 sci-fi short stories where a man’s tattoos come to life and share dystopian tales of the human condition. It was a book her childhood friend recommended before passing away suddenly during her teen years. Months later, her mom would recommend the 1951 sci-fi book and, eight years later, an ex-boyfriend. “But in my universe, perhaps the stories don’t end in tragedy,” said Sofish, whose real name is Sofía López Jiménez. Now in her self-published debut album, “Femme Illustrée,” the 25-year-old francophile puts a spin on Bradbury’s idea, embracing her own tattoos — or rather, love’s wounds — not as a warning of future disillusionment but rather as markers of a life well-lived. Throughout nine tracks, the Guadalajara-born singer-songwriter transports listeners to a celestial club inundated with love, lust and longing. Shifting between Spanish and French, Sofish delivers a heavy pump of French house music and a funky flow of moombahton, a subgenre that combines Dutch house music and reggaeton. …

How Childhood and Its Wounds Help Us Know Ourselves

How Childhood and Its Wounds Help Us Know Ourselves

In an ideal psychological atmosphere, our parents and others are models of sane, healthy behavior. Spiritually, they help us form appropriate values and act with integrity. They imbue us with a sense of neighborliness toward others. They foster a beneficent worldview. We come to see ourselves as important participants in the vast evolutionary project of stewardship for this so often imperiled earth. We then feel called to be blissful saints. Thus, psychological development, a spiritual journey, and a saintly style can happen in us simultaneously. When we focus on our psychological development, we realize the impact of our parenting, both positive and negative. Some of us have come from healthy childhoods. Some of us have come from wounded childhoods in which we were not nurtured, or in which we were neglected or abused. Yet, in an integrated view of sanity, spirituality, and sanctity, we do not overlook the presence of a higher power in our lives that is fatherly and motherly, brotherly and sisterly. We feel cared about, guided, and supported in our holy desire …