Giana De Dier

"Why do I want to straighten my hair? Why have they made me believe that we should straighten our hair? These simple questions sparked a research that is now a counter-memory to the Panamanian history that has gone unquestioned for so long. This counter-memory was built by the hands of multiple Black women, friends who have found themselves in a similar situation."

This documentary is based on field research (December 2022-January 2023) in which seven Panamanian families of Antillean descent (Jamaica, Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad, and Guyana) between Panama City and Colón agreed to meet and share their family memories of their experience as migrant workers who, in the 19th century, built the Panama Canal.