Rain as Memory: Cinematography and Cultural Continuity in In Times of Rain
Faculty Mentor Name
Traci Roberts-Camps
Research or Creativity Area
Humanities & Arts
Abstract
Complexities within cultural identity and generational distance shape the heart of Itandehui Jansen’s film In Times of Rain, a Mixtec-language film that presents an intimate portrayal of a family stretched across geography, practices, and emotional expectations. The film follows Soledad, an older woman who practices traditional healing in an Oaxacan village, with routines grounded in ancestral habits. Adela, the daughter, moves to Mexico City in search of a better life, leaving José, in Soledad’s care in the village. This practice is one that represents the life experiences for many Indigenous families impacted by economic instability. As José grows older, he adapts to life in the village; the emotional distance between him and his mother grows, revealing how migration not only alters one’s way of life, but also their identity, relationships, and values. Within this divide, the film reveals how migration not only disrupts physical proximity but also reshapes cultural identity, creating conflict between generational perspectives rooted in tradition and those influenced by modernity. This oral presentation examines the themes of conflict between tradition and modernity and family connection through the techniques of the use of rain and natural lighting and realistic imagery in Itandehui Jansen’s film In Times of Rain, presenting the erosion and renewal of indigenous identity and the fragile emotional bonds between generations divided by culture and distance.
Rain as Memory: Cinematography and Cultural Continuity in In Times of Rain
Complexities within cultural identity and generational distance shape the heart of Itandehui Jansen’s film In Times of Rain, a Mixtec-language film that presents an intimate portrayal of a family stretched across geography, practices, and emotional expectations. The film follows Soledad, an older woman who practices traditional healing in an Oaxacan village, with routines grounded in ancestral habits. Adela, the daughter, moves to Mexico City in search of a better life, leaving José, in Soledad’s care in the village. This practice is one that represents the life experiences for many Indigenous families impacted by economic instability. As José grows older, he adapts to life in the village; the emotional distance between him and his mother grows, revealing how migration not only alters one’s way of life, but also their identity, relationships, and values. Within this divide, the film reveals how migration not only disrupts physical proximity but also reshapes cultural identity, creating conflict between generational perspectives rooted in tradition and those influenced by modernity. This oral presentation examines the themes of conflict between tradition and modernity and family connection through the techniques of the use of rain and natural lighting and realistic imagery in Itandehui Jansen’s film In Times of Rain, presenting the erosion and renewal of indigenous identity and the fragile emotional bonds between generations divided by culture and distance.
