TIFF Lightbox, Cinema 2

Film Details: 18 minutes | Directed by Sam Mualim Alcalde and Francisca Rojas | Homegrown Shorts | Short Documentary | 2026 | Canada | Created through the Toronto Palestine Film Festival Residency 

Screening as a part of Homegrown Shorts Program

Synopsis: A trans, Chilean-Palestinian refugee embarks on a journey towards finding safety and belonging, while reconnecting with the roots of their intergenerational displacement.

Co-Presented by our friends at Reelworld Film Festival and Inside Out

The Resident Filmmakers

Sam Mualim Alcalde is a Chilean-born, trans non-binary Palestinian writer and editor based in Toronto, Canada. Their experiences with both personal and intergenerational displacement, queerness in a cisgender-leaning society, mental health struggles and disability have led them to explore different forms of artistic expression as a way of making sense of the world. They are active advocates for visibility and justice in overlooked minorities, empowering a sense of community as a way of defying political injustice and breaking down the stigmas and taboos of mental health.

Francisca Rojas is a Chilean-Canadian documentary filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. With a background in history and Latin American studies, she depicts collective historical traumas in their community through an autoethnographic and testimonial lens. She strives to portray community-based, decentralized healing that collectivizes and politicizes mental health struggles.