A Broken House / Film School Radio interview with Director Jimmy Goldblum

KUCI: Film School

Jimmy Goldblum’s poignant documentary short A BROKEN HOUSE follows Mohamad Hafez from the time he received a single-entry visa to study architecture in the United States, and his life-altering realization that if he couldn't return home to Syria, he could make home. A skilled architectural model-maker, he spent his years in exile sculpting life-like renditions of his Damascus neighborhood. When the civil war broke out and his parents fled to the United States as refugees, Mohamad's bottled-up frustration erupted on his models. In a fit of mania, he broke his artworks, leaving them shattered, bombed-out replicas of the Syrian buildings he saw on the news. And yet, when word of his broken pieces spread, Mohamad became an inspiration to refugees and immigrants in the diaspora who dreamed of homes that only existed in memories. 'Hiraeth' is a film about loss and love, responsibility and identity -- about homesickness for the places to which we can no longer return. Director Jimmy Goldblum stops by to talk about the heartbreaking Hafez family saga as they navigate the shattering impact that the Syrian war has had on their country, community and their fracturing family. For more go to: jimgoldblum.com/abrokenhouse For news and screening go to: a broken.house Also available at: pbs.org/pov/a-broken-house Check out all of the shortlisted films at: oscars.org/94th-shortlisted