This film comes from a personal grief: that I once denied my Arab and Palestinian heritage in order to feel safe and accepted in America.

As a child, I learned early that visibility could be dangerous. After witnessing violence against my brother and experiencing racism at school, I began to split myself in two—one version for belonging, and one that stayed at home. Over time, that survival strategy became erasure.

Today, I carry regret about that separation—especially from my mother and her Palestinian identity, which I once distanced myself from in order to assimilate. In the context of what is happening in Palestine and Gaza, that denial feels impossible to ignore.

This film is an attempt to return—to memory, to family, and to a self I was trained to leave behind.