Jessy

“The idea for this film came about in 2012 when I was invited to visit my paternal extended family in America. During that visit, I discovered a dark secret from my father’s past. I began to reconstruct my early childhood memories of my father. I remember him as a ghostly figure because he was often away on long business trips. I always had a sense of longing for him, but when he was actually there, his presence disturbed me. Subsequently, I began to ponder the thought that if my father was guilty, if he was ‘evil’, whether I, his daughter, would then also be ‘evil’. It was then that I was faced with the choice of accepting him for who he is - evil - or denying him and, with it, a part of myself.

Jessy’s story, much like mine, is about the fear of inheriting her parents’ vices and traumas. In her search for clarity and truth, she is confronted with her own dark side and a part of herself she has suppressed - her ‘shadow’. Jessy’s story is not a closure, but it offers us a glimpse into the process of a person’s growth and development.”