Hot Docs 2022 presents Don’t Come Searching

Don’t Come Searching (2022), directed by Andrew Moir, is a character-driven documentary documenting the life of Delroy, a seasonal farmworker who travels to Canada each year to help grow food on an Ontario farm, and Sophia, his common-law spouse, and their blended family, who live in Jamaica.

The documentary chronicles his life as a seasonal farmworker in Mount Bridges, Ontario, Sophia’s life without his presence caring for the family in Jamaica, his declining health in Canada, and his return and failing health in Jamaica.  The documentary follows a linear narrative and the theme of separation and longing run through the film giving the narrative structure starting with his departure and separation at the beginning of the film and finally with his return and his physical absence from death.  The documentary is deeply moving not only for demystifying the death of a seasonal farmworker, a beloved husband and father, by chronicling his last weeks and days, but documenting Jamaican funeral customs, and specifically the practice of nine nights, which is a celebration on the ninth night after the passing of a loved one.

Moir weaves together many visual elements to create a deeply moving and insightful film where hardship and separation meet more hardship and sadness but also brief fleeting moments of joy and finally, recovery set against the beauty of the picturesque countryside in Ontario and Jamaica.  Close-ups and medium angles shots are interspersed with wide-angle shots, and aerial shots and the film incorporates both interior and exterior footage shot over an extended period of time filmed during the day and at night at various locations which give the film a complexity and depth.   Moir succeeds in creating intimate portraits of Delroy and Sophia and their loving relationship.   By juxtaposing Sophia’s voice-over images of the Ontario farm landscape, Moir has not only created dramatic tension in his film but visually presents the reality of their long-distance relationship.  They are apart but she is thinking of him when they are not speaking to each other on the phone.  And when Joe, his former employer calls to check in on Delroy who is lying in his sickbed and having a difficult time keeping his focus when speaking, his connection to Canada is visually manifested but is fast fading because of his health.

The documentary shines a light on understanding the realities of a seasonal farmworker at home and abroad and raises a multitude of questions.  Is Delroy’s experience typical or atypical of the seasonal farm worker in Canada?  In Delroy’s case, he is well treated and respected during his tenure as a seasonal farmworker in Ontario.  He receives medical care in Ontario and his employer, Joe, is present during one of his medical appointments, but everything changes when he returns home.  His medical situation worsens.  He forgoes medical attention because of the cost and takes it to his bed.   It appears there is no medical follow up although he has a shelf made to hold his medication and towards the end of his life Sophia makes the difficult decision not to take him to the hospital because of extenuating circumstances and financial circumstances.

Kudos to Moir for giving us a documentary that shines a light on the realities of seasonal farmworkers and subtly asking the question, “What is our responsibility towards seasonal farmworkers who come to Canada to grow our food?”   This documentary is deserving of your attention.  Don’t miss it.