Aerial Roots – Crafting Third Culture Folklore through mixed media storytelling

Aerial Roots is a short mixed media film that explores the phenomenon of growing up in ever changing landscapes. The main characters, Girl, Heart and Home, navigate rising feelings of unprocessed grief, facing loss – of friends, of home, of pets, of favourite places – with softness and curiosity, as they prepare for the upcoming change.

NARRATOR:

“Once upon a time there was a Girl. Her life moved in cycles. Of rooting, grounding, then being pulled up towards the sky to be planted into new soil. Over and over again.

Time had come for the Girl to move once more. She could feel the unsteadiness grow. First, in her Heart. Then in her sense of Home.”

The change of environments, exposure and integration into various different cultures paint a diverse childhood experience and with that, also challenge children’s sense of identity, belonging and home. This is an ever growing phenomenon in our globalized society (Silvestro), making “the TCK experience <…> a microcosm of what is fast becoming normal throughout the world” (Pollock).

Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a term used to describe people who have “spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture” (Pollock). It is a life of duality. On one hand children gain valuable insight to the diverse lifestyles present in our world and at the same time are not able to belong to any of them completely – not being fully at home in their passport country (the first culture), nor being fully home in the culture they are physically placed in for a limited time (the second culture).
Therefore, they end up existing somewhere in between, in the so-called Third Culture.

GIRL:

Grief stretches across my childhood timeline,
taking shelter in evershining landscapes and foreign seas.
Homesickness is a comforting constant
for there are so many homes to be missed.

The question “How can mixed media storytelling highlight the necessity of acknowledging unprocessed grief in the duality that is the Third Culture Kid experience?” tackles the core issue that Rachel Cason, TCK life story coach, highlighted in one of our interviews: that because of an unspoken rule to being grateful for the life they were given (Pollock), TCKs unconsciously bottle up heavier emotions leading to unprocessed grief and ambiguous loss. Although not widely talked about, these emotions are at the core of the TCK experience.

NARRATOR:

Her heart’s the sentimental one, nostalgia for her is pure delight. Yet this time, the Girl felt something was different. Her heart was facing a heavy feeling that had long been pushed aside… promises of the future, aching for the past, can these feelings evolve to a duality that lasts?

The choice of combining multiple mixed media components to create a whimsical, playful and magical realism style narrative allows the film to relate to different people of different ages at multiple stages of their life. Perhaps the poetic essence may be missed by a younger audience, however they may notice the way characters Heart and Home move across the story, whilst an older viewer may hold on more to the spoken rhyme.

GIRL:

Time had flown across the years for soon again I had to move,
when Home and Heart discovered me tugging at my earthly roots.
I ensured them that i had a plan, for if i started digging now
Perhaps the pain would lessen when I’d have to leave this town.

The project truly blossomed during the two screening events – one held online, in collaboration with VCC alumni and founder of The Joy Space Autumn Laskey-Downs, and one held in person at the Kalmar Konstmuseum. During both discussions many points were raised, but one especially was highlighted:

“What is the definition of home?”

Is it a place, or rather, people? Both changing, moving, arriving and leaving. And does that factor perhaps not lessen but in fact expand the frames of what home may encompass?

NARRATOR:

“And so, the first culture lives on one’s passport
insisting you belong.
The second – geographical,
emotionally and physically explored.
And then there is the third one –
non-binding nor a place.
It is the inbetween
that seems to leave no trace.
It has no boundaries,
no territory lines,
cannot be seen nor touched
but is a factor that unites
two cultures not quite fitting
into a third that turns to home.
Glance up and notice –
your aerial roots have grown.”

This project is the result of multiple beautiful collaborations – with TCK Life Story Coach Rachel Cason who provided insights and perspectives into this topic, with Sound Person Jakob Karbø who composed original music for the film, as well as with the members of the international theatre group Snail Mail Maniac Collective who brought the idea to life through camera and performance.

Cast:

Narrator – Autumn Laskey-Downs
Home – Jojanneke Van Duijn
Heart – Lena Sammüller
Girl – Viktorija Baltušytė

Crew:

Story, Set, Edit – Viktorija Baltušytė
Cinematography – Aaron Helmbold
Music – Jakob Karbø
Sound – Theresa Gallenkämper

Watch the full film here:

References:

Pollock, David C., et al. Third Culture Kids: Growing up among Worlds. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2017.
Silvestro, Steve, (host). “Raising Cross-Cultural Kids: Identity & Resilience – with Dr. Anisha Abraham.” The Child Repair Guide, drstevesilvestro.com, 30 Nov. 2020, https://www.drstevesilvestro.com/raising-cross-cultural-kids-identity-and-resilience-with-dr-anisha-abraham