La casa de Mama Icha (The House of Mama Icha)

Mama Icha feels the end of her life close and only thinks of one thing: returning to her homeland, Colombia. Decades ago, she had immigrated to the United States to help her daughter with the care of the grandchildren. She dreams of the Magdalena River in the sunset, being surrounded by her family and neighbors in the patio of the house she built during the years of absence with the money she sent from abroad. But the idyllic world of her memories is confronted with deteriorated family relationships and the repercutions of economic inequality. “The House of Mama Icha” is an observational documentary that portraits the heroic return of 93-year-old Maria Donisia Navarro to Colombia. It is a film that explores the legacies of migration and immerses us in the heartbreaking reality of power struggles in families, when seniors become dependent on the care of others.

Mama Icha embodies the dream of many migrants to spend their last days in the houses that they built in their place of origin with remittances. "The House of Mama Icha" is part of "Mi Casa My Home", a transmedia documentary trilogy that reflects on the meaning of 'home' when it is crossed by the experience of migration.

International Premiere

Oscar Molina
Colombia & USA // 2020
Documentary
Spanish
86 Minutes