Reunited after 22 years

In April 2012 during the second visit to the asylum I asked Josué what his dream for the future might be.  Would he ever leave the asylum?  Did he have any unfinished business?  He told me of his daughter in California.  They hadn’t seen each other in 22 years.  He had no idea where she was.  Josué’s dream was to see her again one day.  He told me it would be sometime soon.  I wrote down her name and told Josué I’d look on the Internet.  I didn’t think I’d have much luck.

On Friday 13th July I was editing the recording of Josué’s dream.  I’d considered going to California to look for his daughter.  Having been deported form the US, Josué wouldn’t be able to accompany me but searching and maybe even finding the daughter could become part of the film.  I also considered the cost and thought better of it.  Let the idea remain as Josué’s dream.  That night I received the following email via the website…

I sent an email straight back and waited up to make a Skype call to LA.  I then had to get hold of Josué.  Somehow I’d become the catalyst for bringing a father and daughter together.  I wanted to be everywhere at once to film their first contact but I had to make do with Skype calls to both of them.  Vanessa said it was all like a dream.  She had been told her father was dead but had never given up searching – even if only for whereabouts of his remains.  Finding him on a film trailer wandering around a mental asylum run by its own patients came as something of a shock.

It took me two months to find the money and time to get over to LA to visit Vanessa.  She filled me in on all the history of her shattered family but showed no signs of resentment.  She was just happy that her father was alive.  We went through old photo albums and she showed me the picture of Josué holding her 22 years ago.  She always carried the picture with her.  We wondered how they could see each other again.  Vanessa didn’t have a passport.  Josué couldn’t enter the US.  I promised that somehow we’d arrange a reunion.