De Lo Mio

Two sisters from the US journey to Santiago, Dominican Republic, to reunite with their estranged brother and clear out their grandmother’s house in this affecting family drama. The island nation is not just the story’s backdrop but also its cultural core as the family races against a looming deadline to the clear the property for sale. The house becomes a center of tension, amplified by the past, family dynamics, and cultural differences between the high-spirited, New York-raised sisters, Rita (Sasha Merci) and Carolina (Darlene Demorizi), and older, more serious Dante (Héctor Aníbal), who stayed behind in the Dominican Republic. As the siblings navigate their complex relationship what develops is a thoughtful portrait of what it means to grow up and let go. Diana Peralta’s stunning debut film is a beautiful meditation on familial ties, third culture struggles, and how we define where home is. (Mill Valley Film Festival)