Recently estranged after his family learns he is gay, Omar, a young, Arab-Canadian man, struggles to contact his ailing mother. Phone calls—answered and unanswered—between Omar and his family punctuate the film, as he attempts to bypass his sister and father, who block his communication and who blame him as a source of stress and a catalyst for his mother’s worsening health, to reach his mother directly. Filmed largely from a distance over the course of a year, Omar’s isolation is visibly apparent as he moves through the city alone across the four seasons. Dialtones and dialogue hover over Zoromba’s withdrawn documentation of Omar’s daily life and reveal his private, ongoing persistence to connect with his mother. Meanwhile, snippets of Omar’s conversations with friends reveal the pretenses he performs, as he brings up noncommittal plans to travel, dismisses his family's judgement, and highlights the benefits of his disconnection.

Zoromba’s third short film and debut documentary short, Faraway is an intimate and meditative portrait of estrangement and the shadows that it casts. Quietly and with reserve, it captures the 

solitude of Omar’s severance.

Aziz Zoromba’s patiently observed short film, Faraway, has shown at numerous international festivals, including Slamdance and Montreal International Documentary Festival, among others.

– Laure Bender, Damn These Heels programming committee member