In the mid-1970s, Rico, a 9-year-old Haitian boy, was brutally torn from his native land along with Erzulie, his mother, to a strange planet called Canada. Since their arrival, a distance seems to have grown between mother and son. To regain the love of his mother, Rico will have to understand this New World populated by individuals with strange habits and customs. Fortunately for him, he can count on Kana, his imaginary friend who comes straight out of Haitian mythology.
Acting
Rayan Dieudonné carries entire film in silent stares.
Cinematography
Quebec winter as hostile alien landscape—genius.
Costume
Erzulie's wardrobe: dignity vs. survival in every thread.
Director
Henri Pardo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kana derives from Kanaval—Haiti's Carnival, where the living commune with spirits. Rico literally summons ancestral survival.
Director Pardo used his own 1976 immigration documents as set dressing. That alien registration card? His.
CA
LU
