Seguridad

“Three days had slipped by since my father’s funeral, and I hadn’t been able to cry. Something inside me refused to mourn the man whose alcoholism had caused our family so much pain. ‘He forged his own path,’ I told myself as I cleaned his house and tried to make sense of the chaos he had left behind. Then I stumbled upon a family secret that changed this perception forever.

Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces of the Segura family began to fall into place: Dad’s inexplicable outbursts of violence, despite his kindness and charm in sobriety; my grandfather’s disillusionment with the revolutionary government; the fear in my grandmother’s eyes whenever something remotely political was brought up in conversation. A painful realization of who my father truly was came sharply into focus. He was not morally bankrupt—he was deeply traumatized by the same political system he once believed in wholeheartedly. It also became clear that the effects of that trauma were still running rampant through my own veins. With this awareness came the tears, and a monumental responsibility: to heal my intergenerational trauma in the best way I knew how—by making a film.

Seguridad is a fight for empowerment. It is a visceral attempt to restore my own sense of safety—the word that, paradoxically, translates into our family name. How does one uncover a family’s wound when its members still fear talking about it? My only possible option was to do it lovingly, holding their hands and walking together through the fire. The result is a web of deeply personal stories that might resonate beyond the walls of our home.

I hope that sharing my family’s story encourages others to engage in similar conversations with their families and communities—that people from all walks of life are inspired to sit on their sofas and discuss the things that shaped them. We all have untold stories buried within us. Although at times frightening, releasing them is an exercise in empathy and a catalyst for personal freedom.”

— Tamara Segura, Director