On one level, Passing Through is a travelogue comprised of the brief but profound moments of a family trip to Trinidad & Tobago, an intimate documentation of rituals around food, music, and celebration.
On a deeper and less obvious level, the film also functions as an ode to a relationship that has ended, the many years spent with a partner and within their family. We have passed through each others lives and moved on, just as the characters of the film enter and leave the frame in many shots of the film.
Structurally, the film is inspired by the haibun literary form which traditionally combines prose and haiku to record a journey. Passing Through is comprised of poetic passages juxtaposed with traditional continuity editing to create a meaningful patchwork of family memories.
Camera / Sound / Edit by Joel Wanek