Filmmaker Colette Ghunim reflects on the personal and political journey behind Traces of Home—and how Peace is Loud’s pro-bono office hours for Palestinian filmmakers offered the care, connections, and strategic support to help bring her story to life.
When filmmaker Colette Ghunim began working on Traces of Home, she set out to document her parent’s journey back to their respective homelands in Mexico and Palestine—places they were forced to flee as children. What began as a film about migration quickly deepened into something more intimate and transformative.
“It became not just about this disconnect to home and feeling the disconnect to my roots,” Colette shares, “but it was the disconnect to my parents themselves and learning how to get past [those emotional walls], both within myself, but then with my family.”
That evolving sense of purpose, healing, not just storytelling, is what drew Colette to Peace is Loud’s office hours program for Palestinian filmmakers. Through intentional one-on-one consultations and strategy sessions, the program connects filmmakers with industry partners, impact strategists, and resources aligned with their vision and values.
“As a Palestinian filmmaker, I felt like they were very, very intentional with who they were connecting me to,” she explains. “Through the office hour sessions, I was connected to PBS POV, Arab Film and Media Institute, and a lot of different Arab connections that were super essential for both the fundraising and distribution strategy.”
That care-centered support proved pivotal. Colette credits Peace is Loud’s consultation with helping her apply for, and receive, Working Films Impact Kickstart grant, which will fuel her campaign to bring Traces of Home to communities across the country.
The film is now in its final stretch, with post-production nearly complete and a robust impact campaign taking shape. Colette hopes Traces of Home will serve as both a tool for collective healing and a call to action, connecting the intergenerational trauma of displacement to the urgent fights against border violence and the genocide in Gaza.
“We are very open to any kinds of screening ideas all over the country,” she says. “We hope this film becomes a mobilization tool to end the genocide in Gaza and the occupation.”
Supporters can contribute by funding the final stages of the film and collaborating on its national screening campaign. Because behind every independent film like Traces of Home is a story, and a storyteller, who deserves care, community, and a platform.
To learn more about Traces of Home or to support with a tax-deductible donation please visit the film’s website.
