Mountains

When an established community (and its associated culture) begins to disappear, its constituents (particularly those who come from an immigrant background) start to experience a palpable sense of passing into oblivion. At the same time, though, some of the residents of those neighborhoods are faced with the dilemma of having to ask themselves, Am I part of the loss or part of its cause? And, in either case, how do I deal with the outcome and my role in it? Such is the case for Xavier (Atibon Nazaire), a structural demolition worker who resides in Miamis Little Haiti neighborhood with his wife, Esperance (Sheila Anozier), and his adult son, Xavier Jr. (Chris Renois). The community is rapidly and aggressively becoming gentrified with each bui...

Mountains: A Mille-feuille of Layered Subtexts

In Monica Sorelle's "Mountains", a seemingly simple film about gentrification is much more than urban transformation. In one of several subtexts of this rich film, it's a profound exploration of how unmet expectations erode the human spirit.

Set in Miami's Little Haiti, the film follows Xavier, a demolition worker whose daily labor of tearing down houses for his own neighborhood's gentrification becomes a metaphor for the systematic dismantling of personal and collective dreams.

Psychological research by Davidai and Gilovich, and Buddhist philosophy also, hold that unmet expectations cause suffering. Sorelle's subtext demonstrates how attachment to expectations creates internal "demoli...