What’s it about?
Quick summary
CAN’T GET PAST is a narrative story about growing up in London as a second-generation immigrant kid. Written, directed and narrated by Ivan Madeira, he examines his own dilemma about identity crises that he had whilst growing up in a multi-cultural environment.
More information
CAN’T GET PAST is the second short film from Ivan Madeira taken from the identity trilogy. Based on Ivan’s experience of growing up in London, it examines how a variety of influences from family, friends and the general surroundings, can leave someone in a state of feeling like an “inbetweener.”
The film goes through Ivan’s thought process of why he has felt somewhat stuck in the middle of things, and how he learned to deal with it. We see a brief glimpse of his thoughts on his journey of growing up in London as a second-generation immigrant kid, including looking at some key moments such as education, travelling, friendships and a trip back to his mother’s homeland in the Philippines. Using a combination photo animation, humour and docudrama storytelling he hopes to explore this classic tale of “Who am I?” in slightly different way.
The overall point
This narrative based story briefly looks at some of the differences and resulting insecurities that a second-generation immigrant kid may go through, when growing up and around a mixture of cultures. It looks at the potential identity crisis that may result from being surrounded by all these different influences… Even examining whether the use of the phrase ‘second-generation immigrant kid’ is valid in itself.
In brief, the film explores the idea that one creates a chip on their shoulder that they ‘can’t get past.’ A part of a person’s identity is built up from the specifics relating to their surroundings and culture, which the film embraces. However, the nuances of a person’s culture should not be solely used to define an individual, and subsequently they should not be used as an excuse to be divisive and create a superiority complex over another person. Ultimately, the premise is that we’re all striving for the fundamental pleasures in life such as love, food, warmth and amusement. Whilst acknowledging the contribution of our environment and upbringing on our personality, the film recognizes that having a chip on your shoulder as a defence mechanism for ‘not being understood’, in actuality creates more barriers.
Where Can I See it?
- The short film is currently in post production with completion date mid June.
- EPK trailer and final copy available on request to professionals.
