A new immigrant applies for a visa and endures the long and demanding wait for approval or denial. An epistolary poetic film that navigates the inner thoughts of an applicant’s last half of a two-year process for a residency visa in Canada. This long and tumultuous journey that for many can take at least 24 months from the application date demands a high level of resilience as it imposes dramatic waves of anxiety and loneliness. Away turns a sharp light into one of the consequences of the current process we have for economic immigration in Canada, a country with immigration as one of its international brands. A narrative drama and a documentary, a poetic short and a film for social change “Away” speaks on the power that permanent residents and citizens have in mitigating a newcomer’s loneliness by fostering communal and welcoming relations.
