A Cuban widow hires a family rental service to help navigate through her past.

Director’s Vision for ‘Always Together’

ALWAYS TOGETHER is a story about the emotional impact of what might happen if you had the ability to hire someone, on demand, to portray a lost loved one or an estranged family member. This inextricable desire for human connection became a fascination of mine, after I learned of its real-life practice in Japan. As I read countless stories of different circumstances that lead people to hire these services, I started to ask myself how a practice like this might look against the cultural milieu of the United States.

I grew up watching the films of Victor Nunez. Ulee’s Gold was a major influence on me, even as a young teen. It taught me that films can be riveting by way of character development and real life conflict. I found that my emotions weren’t only stirred by action or adventure in big summer blockbusters, but also by family drama and personal conflict in some very thoughtful and quieter films.

I also wanted to create a character around my upbringing in Miami with a Cuban mother and the latin part of my family which helped mold who I am today.