Together Apart

Together Apart is an intimate family portrait of two Igorot women from the Cordilleras, who left the Philippines to seek work abroad. As the most eastern outpost of the European Union, Cyprus has one of the lowest wages for migrant domestic helpers but still recruits large numbers of workers. Guil Ann, a twenty-five-year-old woman from the Cordilleras in the Philippines follows her own mother Carren to the other side of the world. Only months after mother and daughter reunite in Cyprus, unexpected events lead to Carren's departure. After being abroad for almost two decades, Carren has to adjust to a new live in the Philippines, moving in with her mother and youngest son back home. Guil Ann realizes, that if she is lucky, she might be able to return sooner than later to her family, but until then, everyone is relying on her income. Shifting between the temporary present and future imagination of serial migrants, the film is contemplating notions of self-hood, belonging and care, sharing insights into the complex web of transnational migration beyond stereotypical narrative of victimization and sacrifice.