DIRECTOR’s NOTE

For over a decade I have been visiting the town of Manzanillo, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. With roughly around 600 inhabitants, the town of Manzanillo is a place with a complex history, shaped by the late-19th-century railroad construction that drew migrant workers from across the Caribbean and Asia. It's a place where Afro-Caribbeans, the Chinese diaspora, the indigenous BriBri, and people from Panama and Nicaragua meet.

Beneath this mosaic lies my own bond to the town: Manzanillo is where my father, a fisherman,  spent the last decades of his life. Since 2021, my connection to the community has evolved creatively. I collaborated with local children to make our short film, SOLO LA LUNA COMPRENDERÁ (2023), and organized community screenings, nurturing an already strong sense of community through the shared magic of film.

Over the past four years, I have frequently visited Chunyan and her husband Jun at their mini-mart, a place I was first drawn to because my stepmother worked there. As I spent more time with them, I began to see their shop as more than just a store—it was the beating heart of Manzanillo, a crossroads where daily life played out in all its forms: constant movement, exchange, conversation, but also one of quiet connection and belonging.

Over time, I came to see how deeply Chunyan and Jun were rooted in the town’s very fabric. That understanding sparked the idea of creating a feature film together—one that would also involve the wider Manzanillo community. This short film became our first step toward that collaboration.